Fantasia
by flamecrash
Summary: Fantasy AU. In the world of fantasia, there are humans known as 'kings' only they can forge contracts with the supernatural, spirits and demons often known as 'superior beings'. A tournament for the title and throne 'emperor' is occurring soon to pick a successor. Akashi Seijurou, leaves to search for suitable contracts to enter the tournament with, aiming for the throne.
1. Prologue

**Hiyas~ I decided to start a new story~**

**I hope you guys enjoy~**

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In the world, there are humans known as 'kings' only they are able to forge contracts with the supernatural and superior beings that live in the world side by side them. The contract will enable both sides to benefit from it, for example if a king is strong the contracted beings can feed on their innate 'mana' which expands their powers further. As such, the royalties who are kings use this for friendly sport or battle. The current 'emperor' who has grown old and weary has decided to hold a tournament to crown a successor…

In a castle, a red head is reading a book, heterochromatic eyes scan across line after line. A knock is heard, a servant soon enters giving a kurt bow "Akashi-sama, the lord calls for you." Akashi nods his head, closing the book, before exiting the room.

Akashi soon reaches a room and enters it to see his father whose back was turned away from him. "You've called father?" "Yes, I have. I'm sure you've heard, the grand tournament for the crown of emperor is coming in a few months time. I've consulted with your mother with this and seeing as you're able to, we're about to enter you in the tournament. But first, have you not contracted with anyone?"

"I'm afraid not father. The insignificant fleas that flock to me for my innate mana is not strong enough for me." The older Akashi soon turned to him, contemplating something. "Its true that this is a problem…but hastily getting weak contracts will not assist this matter at all. What would you like to do Seijuro?" Akashi smirked, one of the reasons that he is fond of his father is that the older man will not hesitate to ask for his opinion, seeing his own son as an equal.

"If you would _permit _father, I've been thinking of traveling for a month or so to find people I would like to contract with." Akashi replied swiftly. "Hmmm, very well….I'm fairly certain that you can defend yourself on your own. And you've mastered our family's sacred technique as well…Alright, you have my permission." "I will make preparations and leave in an hours time." Akashi gave a curt bow before leaving.

Akashi since birth had strong mana. Hence, why other beings became attracted to him, to counteract this, his strict family raised him to be able to control his mana, or release the excess as spells.

Soon in an hours time, the red head was riding a horse away, in search of suitable partners.


	2. A odd rumor

Akashi soon came to a village, one with a odd rumor he had heard from his servants at the castle._ "You can feel like something's there! But in truth nothing is when they turn around but the eerie feeling is definitely there."_ So he came to investigate, however, when he asked the villagers they would pale and turn away, claiming that they have no clue what he was talking about. Deciding that rest was needed, he went to an inn after placing the horse in the stables and taking his valuables. There he finally found someone to talk about the infamous rumor.

"So, you looking fer that demon young lad?" Akashi is currently wearing normal robes with sword on the side of his waist instead of the high class attire he had at home, it also serves to blend in. "Yes, do you know something about it?" The innkeeper look left and right, as if seeing whether anyone was listening in before replying "Trust me lad, we all do. But because the chief doesn't want the news to break out he makes us all keep quiet about it. Those who don't….suddenly disappears." Akashi then stared at the innkeeper suspiciously.

"Why do you not obey then?" the man just shakes his head in frustration "I'm fed up with it! Look lad, if you could do something about this I don't mind telling." Akashi gave a nod "Alright, that beast does exist. Though it doesn't bother us much, just taking a bit of crops once in awhile. The problem though is that it frightens the villagers, and that's no good if we still want people to stop by or purchase our crops. Its den is in the outskirts of town, north of here."

"If you know where it is, why not get someone to deal with it?" the innkeeper gives a sigh "We've tried, getting mages and warriors to drive it out wouldn't work, that one's no pushover. And also because the children of this village wouldn't like it." "Children?" "That's right lad, the children are fond of this….beast. They say they wouldn't let us hurt their friend and that if he leaves its of his own free will." Akashi pondered about this new found information for a moment "That is…odd. Tell me, are there casualties?"

The innkeeper just shrugged his shoulders "There's bound to be, just no deaths yet. We've been lucky." '_Lucky? I doubt it, its most likely intentional. If a superior being has even a single weapon mass murder should have been easy depending on its skill.' _"Alright thanks for the information, I'll go now to see that fiend of yours." The innkeeper nods and walks away to tend to his work.

The red head then leaves for the forest on foot, trekking around till evening when he finds a large den perfect for an extremely large beast. 'Hmm I should test if it really is strong.' The red head then lifted his right hand and focused mana on it beginning to chant "Flames from the deepest part of the earth, materialize and burn!" a large sphere of compressed blazing flames soon appeared Akashi narrowed his eyes before flicking his wrist, sending the large sphere through the mouth of the den.

And explosion followed soon after smoke came out but there was no response. "Perhaps I misjudged, its just something weak after all." Akashi was about to turn around and leave seeing as the presence he felt in the cave suddenly vanished. "That was close, don't shock me like that, I'll get angry."

Akashi widened his eyes and jumped back on instinct upon hearing a stranger's voice and spun around to see a slender dragon, with black scales covering his body, light blue eyes in contrast with its scales stared at the red head emotionlessly, its claws were golden in colour.(Like those Chinese dragons, you get what I mean.)

"Where did you come from?" "The shadows." the dragon deadpanned. "So you're the beast?" the dragon merely tilted his head to the side slightly "I suppose so. Did they get you to try and drive me out?" "I came on my own after hearing the rumors."

"Ah, it explains why you're different then the ones they hired." The red head raised an eyebrow "The ones they got always came to my home and started yelling and announcing that they were here. Saying something about 'slaying the foul beast!' so I never expected that one fine evening a fireball was the first thing that greeted me when I opened my eyes." Akashi chuckled when he sensed that the dragon twitched in irritation.

"I sense that you're strong, you've managed to pass my 'emperor eye' even if it was for a short moment." The dragon kept an emotionless face pondering about something "Have we met? You seem familiar." it scanned Akashi up and down. "Ah. Do you have a human form transformation pill?"

Akashi blinked before throwing a pill he kept in case his contracted beings were in forms that were far too flashy. The dragon immediately swallowed it and his body was enveloped in smoke before a light blue haired teen with matching eyes stepped out, his body wore a simple white shirt and pants. "Tetsuya?"

Kuroko nodded his head "That's my name. Now then Sei-kun, why don't you explain why you're truly here." Akashi thought about letting the blue haired teen know, seeing as he's the type to be tight lipped he found no harm in telling "I am to enter in the grand tournament for title and throne of 'emperor' but, I have no contracts. As such I came to look for worthy beings."

"And? Even though I'm a dragon, I'm one who is more of support, whose only special ability is to sink into the shadows. Plus, I couldn't hurt a fly. Look at these guns." Kuroko replied emotionlessly while flexing his arm. Akashi just chuckled "So blunt as always. But I get what I want and I've set my eyes on you so you'll be joining, support type or not. Not only that, you have claws, use them. Honestly I should've figured out it was you, what other superior being enjoys entertaining children?"

"You were a cute young boy back then too when I looked after you." "Tetsuya do not spout such things." Akashi replied swiftly. Kuroko blinked "But it's the truth." "Lets not stray from the topic at hand. Tetsuya, you have nothing to lose should you leave here. I'll _ask_ nicely, that you come with me." Akashi asked(demanded) as he stretched out his palm.

"…"

"…" Kuroko sighed before undoing the pills effect, returning him to his dragon form. "….I understand, tomorrow at the break of dawn I'll meet you at the entrance of town. But first." Kuroko then used a claw and gave a small cut drawing out blood before transferring it into a small tube and handing it over to Akashi. "You'll need to drink that. Its part of the condition for this contract." The black scaled dragon then took a bit of Akashi's blood before swallowing it, Akashi did the same and glowing words soon appeared in front of the slender dragon, Kuroko read through it before pressing a claw on it muttering 'I accept' and almost immediately an image of a spiraling dragon appeared on the red head's arm.

"It is complete, that dragon-like tattoo is the symbol of our contract. I much prefer this then a physical object." Akashi stared at it for awhile before speaking "I thought you would put up a fight." Kuroko stared at him like he was ridiculous "Violence is bad." he then slinked back into his charred den. He almost didn't hear a faint 'thank you' the red head muttered before returning back to town. Forging a contract is basically giving the king full rights to you after all.

At the break of dawn kuroko came flying(?) down and saw Akashi waiting for him. "So, said your goodbyes?" "Ah. You found out." "Nothing slips by me." The red head said before hopping onto Kuroko. "I'm going to be your transportation?" "You are much faster then a horse." Akashi returned the horse he originally had back to the castle, asking a servant to pick it up. Kuroko inwardly sighed before going back to flying, his new king had to be the most oddest of them all.

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**I made it so that Kuroko already knew Akashi to speed things up. You know like how you start pokemon and you need at least one partner? Yeah that sort of thing. I'm also pretty sure you guys know who the contracts are already so i wanna ask, should i add Kagami into this?**

**Also i _might_ make it so that finding and making the contracts will be rather short as the main focus is sort of the tournament.**

**Please review~**


	3. A bear

**Yay~ A new chapter~**

**Kuroshiro.19 -You actually sound like Kiyoshi in that last bit. Alright decided then~ I'll add Kagami into this~**

**EclipseKuran- I'm not sure if i'll make this AkaKuro with other pairings included. I will consider though~**

**Alright! Lets go on with the chapter~**

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When Kuroko asked where they were going, Akashi only told him to fly above certain villages but not too high up as he used his 'emperor eye' to see any strange movement. It had been a week since they formed a contract and they've continuously done the same act of flying over a village for a few days. Kuroko had to question his new king's method of searching for worthy allies, couldn't they have picked up another strange rumor to go on? He thought as he greedily slurped up water.

They had stopped at a spring not too long ago to rest as Kuroko wasn't the most fit being out there and flying takes up a lot of energy. Akashi was somewhere in the woods wondering, after a few seconds when they landed he was ambushed by nymphs and forest spirits whom wanted to forge contracts with him. Of course, Akashi had politely declined but they were pestering him, so he decided to get away for awhile.

The dragon knew that his king would be strong enough to take care of himself, but the reptile can't seem to shake off the odd feeling he had. The bad feeling he got was soon turned real when the usually concealed mark of his contract, glowed on his head, signifying that Akashi was in danger. The reptile immediately took of to search for him.

* * *

A few moments prior, Akashi was wondering around, munching on a fruit he picked as he observed the woodlands. To him it seemed normal, the only odd thing was, ever since a few moments ago, he couldn't hear the birds chirping or any wildlife sounds at all. He soon spotted a large claw gash on a tree along with blood. He bended down to observe, noting that the blood was still fresh meaning whatever killed there could still be around. He instantly kept his guard up.

Akashi then smelt the metallic scent of blood and turned around to see a large purple furred bear with its paw raised and a moment later the bear slammed its paw down, growling. Akashi barely leaped back in time and took this chance to closely look at the bear. Its half-lidded eyes matched the colour of its fur and there was a pair of curled horns sticking out of his head, its teeth was sharp and its claws were black in colour with blood on it. Must have been what he smelt.

The bear was too large to be ordinary so that means "Why are you, a superior being attacking me for?" "Hm~ You smell nicer than the rabbit I ate just now. So I want to eat you too~" The bear said childishly. "Have it your way." Akashi jumped back again and began to chant "Blazing seas and fiery fields in hell, burn the land before me! Fire attribute spell, Hell's field!"

The land surrounding the purple beast erupted in flames and so did the bear.

Akashi still had his guard up knowing better then to lose focus. Only when the bear collapsed on the ground motionless, did he relaxed and turned around. Immediately the beast got up, and charged at the unsuspecting red head. When Akashi realized, he was a second too late and knew he'd be attacked.

"Chant abortion. Dragon scale shield." a luminous barrier appeared, it had patterns akin to a dragon's scale, the bear crashed into it and although it was instantly shattered, the purple beast was still repelled back a short distance. A scaly long body wrapped around Akashi protectively. "Arra~ There was another one~" The bear said while standing on two feet, making him look like a giant. "That spell of yours did nothing to me~ But it itches though~"

"I apologise, but it would be a problem if you were to attack him." The red head smirked before using his hand to rub the black scales "I'm flattered, Tetsuya." "Think nothing of it. I shouldn't have let you out of my sight. I barely made it." Before Akashi could reply the bear was suddenly stomping angrily on the ground "I'm starving~ Those who stops me from eating will be crushed!" The bear started charging at the duo again, this time though, its horns started to enlarge to the size of a bull's.

"Sacred dragon armour that wraps around me, enlarge and guard against what is before me. Dragon scale shield." The dragon like barrier appeared once more, looking far more thicker than the flimsy one before. "Old friend, may you lend me your strength. Black tortoise's shell." The dragon casted once more and a second thick shield appeared, successfully parrying the on-coming charge. "Sei-kun, you'll have to do offense. I'm busy holding up the shield." "You do not order me around Tetsuya."

The red head sent a glare at the dragon's way "Quicksand of the desert, mud swamps of the jungle. Materialize and swallow the enemy! Earth attribute: Quick devourer!" Kuroko recognized the spell and immediately repelled the beast away a large distance before a large pit opened, sinking the bear into the ground. "You don't eat me! I Eat you!" The bear roared before using its paws to drag himself out of the trap.

Kuroko was prepared to cast another shield before Akashi placed a hand on his claws "Leave him to me, I've taken a liking to this one." The red head said before stepping out to face the confused and hungry bear. "Arra~ You're not hiding behind him anymore?" "I never was from the beginning, it was just to comfortable to move. You're strong and I've set my eyes on you."

"Hm~ I don't know what you're saying, I just want to eat you~" The bear then covered his claws in dark attribute mana and began swinging forth rapidly, not noticing the long chant that Akashi's been saying since they stopped talking. "….Once a century, you appear. Covering the world in a gloomy light, blocking the holy light, synchronizing with the blazing sun. Man who is foolish to look upon thee, will have their gift of sight taken….."

Kuroko widened his eyes at the high leveled dark and light spell, immediately casting whatever strong barrier spells he knew along with casting a impact decrease, heat defense increase and a thin light barrier for the red head, the purple fur bear panted at the missed barrages of attacks and small craters opened when he swung his claws, shocked at the fact none of them hit. Giving the chance to complete the chant "…..Strike down the fool that stands before me! Light and Dark attribute: Eclipse!"

A large ball of completely compressed and oppressed bright orange flames with dark black flames surrounding it soon materialized and the red head lifted his arm and flicked his wrist, sending the sphere straight to the exhausted bear, causing a large explosion, the bear roared as it felt itself burn from the heat. As soon as the smoke and rock particles subsided, the purple beast was charred, still barely conscious and barely holding for life as it felt to the ground.

"Sei-kun, that was reckless, what do you think would have happened if I didn't cast barriers for you? Even you wouldn't have come out of that unscathed." Kuroko said as it flew over to Akashi, scanning for an serious injuries and looked relived that there was any, thank god that he was agile. "I knew you would have done so, I trusted you. Now then," The red head said turning to the charred bear "We need to patch him up. Surviving from that blast is proof that it is strong, I want him along."

Kuroko inwardly sighed as he obeyed, chanting healing spells for the servere burns the bear got, often leaving to find herbs, water and food seeing as they were going to stay there for a long while.

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The bear awoke from its deep sleep three days after on an afternoon, it yawned before looking around, the first thing on its mind was that it was really hungry and that fact was confirmed with a large growl from its stomach, which alerted the duo that their 'companion' was awake. "Ne ne~ Do you have anything to eat? Something sweet would be nice~"

"…Something sweet?" Kuroko replied tilting its head before Akashi spoke "Tetsuya, do we still have that pot of honey you gathered not too long ago?" The dragon nodded its head "Give it to him." Kuroko did as he was told and handed the large pot yellow liquid to the bear.

"Honey? What's that~" The bear dragged each word as it shook the pot, before slurping the contents inside and the two watched in amusement when its eyes seem to sparkle as it continued lapping up the sweet liquid. "Hmm~ Tastier then a rabbit. Thanks~…..I didn't get your names." "I'm Akashi Seijuro and this is Kuroko Tetsuya."

"Umm~ Thanks Kuro-chin, Aka-chin." the dragon lifted an eyebrow(?) as he heard their nicknames but Akashi didn't seem to mind. "You guys are weird~ I attack you and even after you beat me, you still healed me~ Plus, giving me this new treat~ I like you guys~" The bear said happily like a child.

It seems that was the condition for its contract. Glowing words soon appeared in front of the bear, whom looks confused. "What's this~" It asked before slurping some more honey. "it's the final confirmation of a contract." Kuroko stated. "Contract? I have no clue~ I don't remember stuff like that."

Akashi gestured for Kuroko to explain. "The wording that appears in front of you right now signifies that a 'king' has achieved the condition you yourself set. As this is sometimes done on accident, a final confirmation in the forms of those words appear. If you refuse you can simply slash the thing in half and the process would terminate but if you accept, you just have to press you paw on it gently and say 'I accept' you would then have to serve under the king that has contracted with you. Of course there are benefits." the dragon ended its explanation and breathed in for air, that was the most it had talked in a long time.

The bear continued drinking and it paused for awhile "I don't really get it but if I say yes, I get to go with you guys right?" The red head nods and the bear looks at the words and reads it lazily. "Lets see~ First put my paw gently…." The bear did so "Next say I accept." and it did. Akashi soon found a plain chain around its neck as well as the bear, the proof of their contract. "I like you guys, so I'll come~ It'll be fun to go out with someone~ ne, Kuro-chin." "Why ask me?" But the bear wasn't paying attention to what Kuroko had said as he outstretched its paws.

"Can I have some more?" Akashi gestured for him to wait before asking "You may but first, what is your name?" The bear seemed to think a moment before it clicked.

"Murasakibara Atsushi."

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**Please review~ and i hope i did the teddy bear of the GoM correctly~**


	4. Pouncing tiger,leaping panther

**Hey there~**

**I honestly have no idea whatsoever to say...**

**Hmm...**

**Well, lets just move on to the chapter then~**

* * *

Akashi noted down that Kuroko had been feeling a bit anxious when they were entering this specific village. It was a normal village really, nothing odd, there was no rogue beast here or rampaging superior beings yet every step he took(The two contracted beings he had with him were in human forms) he would be anxious. Akashi wanted to continue searching for allies but his father had sent a request to take care of something in the previous village and halfway walking, the red head decided to stop to get supplies in this village as it was close by.

"Kuro-chin, you seem tense~ Is something wrong?" The tall purple head giant asked as he munched on sweets that were bought for him. "Its nothing to be concerned about." "Tetsuya." Akashi said with an edge in his voice. Kuroko stared into the mis-matched eyes on his king and the concern half-lidded ones from the tall purple giant. "Its just," Kuroko began, giving up on hiding it "I sense someone familiar."

"Ho? This seems interesting…..In any case, try to keep you anxiety down. You'll unconsciously undo the pills effects, I might have to get stronger ones to maintain yours and Atsushi's forms." Kuroko nodded taking a breath to calm himself, while Murasakibara remains unchanged, continuing to munch of treats.

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"Oi! Baka-Tora!(Tiger)" a midnight blue panther roared, its silver claws digging into the flesh of the deer they caught. "What do you want Aho-neko?!(cat)" a while fur tiger with blood red stripes roared back, his red claws and sharp teeth sinking into the neck of its prey, killing it.

"Guess who decided to stop by?" The tiger seemed to sniff the air before breaking into a wide smile. "I haven't seen him for awhile, seems someone is with him." The panther seem to growl "There are two with him! Do you think he got himself a strong king?"

"Ya think? He's anti-social and very careful, I wonder what rod managed to hook him?" The panther snorted in amusement "Interesting description. What do you say we pay him a visit? After all…." The duo leaped up and started dashing into the nearby town.

"He's our partner."

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Akashi stocked up in supplies before opening a dimensional pocket, throwing the objects inside. Kuroko had taught him this handy spell so that the dragon didn't have to carry all the heavy supplies the mother hen found necessary to have. Murasakibara was carrying the food that he wanted to eat while following the red head.

"Aka-chin~ What now?" "We go look for an inn to rest. Its soon coming to evening. We'll leave tomorrow morning." "M'kay~" The giant replied strolling leisurely beside Kuroko. The blue head suddenly tensed up and dashed off to the exit at the back of the town. "Kuro-Chin?" Murasakibara said dazed. "Ho, this _is_ interesting. Atsushi," The red head gave the tall giant a nod.

The bear understood what it meant and kept its food before immediately transforming into his bear form, earning several startled gasp and some screams. Akashi effortlessly leaped onto the purple beast and grabbed hold of the chain around its neck, Murasakibara saw that the red head was ready and dashed after the blue head, despite its huge form, the bear is quite agile and fast.

They soon found the blue head who un-did the pills effect and waited in the clearing of the forest in the outskirts of the village. Akashi gave the chain a yank, signaling the bear to stop. "Atsushi, stay silent." Murasakibara nodded his head in understanding. "Lets see if I can bypass Tetsuya without him finding out…..Mists of deception, wrap and shroud from seeking eyes… Dark attribute: Shrouding Mist."

The duo found themselves covered and blending into the background perfectly. Akashi led Murasakibara behind a few trees and they waited. Which they hadn't to for long, a bush not too far away from them rustled and out came a pouncing tiger and a leaping panther. The both of them tackled Kuroko, The purple bear thought Kuroko was attacked and wanted to charge in but Akashi raised an arm and held him back. "No, Not yet."

The pair weren't too far away and could hear without much difficulty, not that they needed to anyway. The roaring and shouting can be heard could be heard from some distances away. "Tetsu! Long time no see!" The blue panther shouted smacking Kuroko's back with its paw. "Send a message or something if you were coming! We would have gotten a nice deer for you!" The tiger repeated what the panther did.

"Please stop, I'll get angry." Which made the two instantly comply. "Tetsu, To think you'll meet us here." "I had no choice, with the way you two are you would've stormed the village and cause havoc." Then two then narrowed their eyes.

"So where,"

"Is that king of yours?"

"You found out." the tiger snorted "His scent is undeniable, so who is it?" "I'm sure you met him or heard me talk about him once. Its Akashi-kun."

"THAT CHIBI?!" As if it was a keyword, a pair of scissors flew toward the two of them, drawing blood. "Aka-chin…" The bear started, their cover completely blown. "Sorry, that was on instinct. But still, who are you calling 'chibi'?" "Sei-kun, what are you doing here."

"You have some nerve to run away all of a sudden." Akashi started twirling a pair of scissors he bought, turns out he was a natural at throwing the silver object. "Tetsuya, return here." Kuroko was about to comply when the two felines blocked him. "Who do you think you are? You may be Tetsu's king but we're talking here."

The red striped tiger charged towards them first, his body covered in pure red flames, his claws extended longer and sharper. "Atsushi." "Got it~" Murasakibara extended its horns before charging in parrying with the tiger's claws. The purple giant then hooked one of its horns under the tiger's belly and threw the feline into air. But cats always land on all fours. "You bastard! Get out of my way." "No way~ I won't let you touch Aka-chin~"

Akashi wanted to go against the panther, until a large wind element attack caused an explosion. The group turned to look at the furious black scaled dragon, its blue eyes held a red tint "Minna-san, lets settle this peacefully talking…" Which was how the group ended in sieza position sitting around the dragon in an inn.

"Alright, first things first. Introduction. Sei-kun is my king and Murasakibara-kun is a bear beast." The dragon gestured a claw at the two "The two felines earlier, the white one with red stripes and the weird eyebrows is Kagami-kun. The panther is Aomine-kun, they are both cousins." Another claw is pointed at the human forms of the two cats, ignoring the tiger's shout of 'What weird eyebrows?!'. The red head snorted "I can see why. Tetsuya, explain how you know these two." A threatening glare was sent and replied in kind.

Kuroko sighed "Alright, Sei-kun, you're aware of the old legend between the dragon and tiger, yes?" "The one where they are partners?" Kuroko nodded his head "That is correct, before I left my clan of dragons, my clan brought all the dragons to tiger valley. Although it is a legend they believe in this and act as a tradition. As such pairs of dragon and tiger are formed and they usually becomes the best fit for each other." He looked around and saw them paying attention, except for the purple bear.

"There I met Kagami-kun and Aomine-kun. To be honest, the three of us didn't bother with this tradition, but our fighting styles actually complements each other and such we became partners, I support and they maim their target in whatever way they want. I also guard their weak spots and heal them while they take care of offense."

"Kuroko, I don't mean to doubt your judgment but why pick him as your king?!" Kagami shouted as he pointed a finger at Akashi. "What's your problem with Sei-kun?" "You're traveling with a glutinous bear and scissor crazy guy! There is a problem!" Kuroko stared at him and at Aomine who seems to agree "And my partners are battle loving cats, so no I don't see the problem." The dragon deadpanned. The two then gave a sheepish smile.

"But battling is fun!" "What are you two? Children?" which made the two angered. The red head decided to cut in "Either way, we're leaving tomorrow. What do you plan to do Tetsuya?" "I don't know. For now, I'll rest." The dragon yawned, showing two long row of sharp shiny teeth before the reptile curled up and fell asleep, Murasakibara saw this and went to sleep beside Kuroko.

The two felines immediately took this as a chance and scooped up the red head and carried him like a sack of potatoes, making a mad dash through the window and returned back to the forest. Oddly though, Akashi made no move until they arrived. "So what do you plan on doing?" he asked the two growling cats circling him. "If we kill you, Kuroko will be free, right?"

"That's how the contract works, he'll be chained down by you and be used." Akashi shrugged his shoulders "I won't deny that he'll be used. But I assure you that he came on his own free will." Something seem to snap as they leaped at the red head, malicious intent flowing out. "Barrier of liquid, form of reflection. Appear and repel my enemy! Water attribute: Repelling mirror!" A blob like substance appeared and the two was sent back, force used against them.

"Quicksand of the desert, mud swamps of the jungle. Materialize and swallow what is before me! Quick devourer!" The two yelped, the moment they landed they were sucked into the ground, as they were about to completely sink in, the spell stopped. "I'd continue to sink you into the ground just for the mere fact you called me 'chibi'…but I have a proposal for you two."

The two snapped their heads to glare at the smirking red head. "There will be a tournament coming up and I am participating. The best of the best will gather and I assure you there are interesting challenges there, Tetsuya said you like battles do you not?" That seemed to interest them, but a flicker of resilience still remained not wanting to give in. They just needed one more push and Akashi knew how. "If you join, you'll be with Tetsuya and can work with him again, that interests does it not? It will be beneficial to you in more ways then one."

The duo stared at each other before the panther started chuckling "So if we accept we'll have to work under you but if we refuse we'll be _buried _under you? Honestly both sound like shit to me." The two started a conversation in their native language before coming to a conclusion. "Alright under one condition," Kagami growled "We get to hold the decision to sever our contracts, does that seem fine to you?"

Akashi nodded his head "But should you choose to do so, you must inform me a day before." Kagami and Aomine agreed. "Alright, now that's solved. What is the condition for your contract?" The duo gave wide grins "You already fulfilled it. The first is to actually wound us, you did it with your scissors earlier on. The second is getting us to agree to the contract." No sooner had they said that did words appear in front of them.

"Oi! We're still buried here!" Aomine roared, Akashi released them both and watched carefully as they read their contracts. The two pressed their paws and accepted, Kagami had two gold bands around his tail, while Aomine had a ring. Akashi received the same and put the ring through his fingers and adjusted the two bands, the physical object for their contract.

"Now then. Lets head back and tell them the good news tomorrow morning." The two agreed, but Aomine growled when the red head dusted the ground particles away and mounted the panther. Kagami wanted to laugh but held it in, his proud cousin was being ridden on! But stopped when he realized the same could happen with him. "What are your first names?" Akashi asked before they reached the inn.

"Daiki."

"Taiga."

The red head smirked "Taiga…Tiger. How fitting." "I get told that a lot so shut it!"

The next morning came soon for the group. Murasakibara and Kuroko weren't that surprised with the news and kept their usual expressions. Akashi could sense that the bear was a little shocked but that's all, as for Kuroko he couldn't tell but he couldn't shake of the feeling that the dragon knew this would happen.

"You knew that the conclusion would be this, didn't you." It was a statement not a question. Akashi narrowed his eyes as he sent the reptile a glare, Kuroko looked to the side to where the red head was, then to the arguing cats in front of them and gave a miniscule smile.

"Whatever could you mean my king?"

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**please review~**

**I hope i got their personalities right~**


	5. Disapproval

**Yatta! I manage to finish this chapter by the end of today! Yay~ Banzai~**

**Ririnto- i can't help but think that Aomine and Kagami fits each other and at the same time not really so of course they'll bicker~ As for what the last two are, i'm trying to think of what they'll be. But i seem to base them off more on chinese animals, so i'll just see which one fits~**

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Akashi honestly felt irritated, the four contracted beings could sense that much and it doesn't take a genius to piece the puzzle together and find out why, though it took longer for the three thick headed all brawn and no brains contracted beings, namely Kagami, Aomine and Murasakibara. And the two felines couldn't help but snicker at the red head's irritation, which at some point became so great that when they stopped to rest once, Akashi had sunk the two half-way into the ground.

The reason why? He was being called back to attend to a few important things. His father usually takes care of this but there are some things, such as parties and meetings that his father couldn't exactly just sign his name on. Further more, his father was not one who was born with the power of a king as such he couldn't exactly tell a contracted being to conjure up a fake version of him to tend to things, so when there are things like this he has to return.

And he was beginning to enjoy traveling around, rather then being in a stuffy old castle such as that. Besides, Kuroko's cooking was by far better then any of his chefs and he has to use claws to cook. On the other hand, he could still act as if he has no contracts so that people would be surprised when he turns up in the tournament which is no more then two months away. Speaking of which, he could go back and gather what rank his little group is.

Superior beings are often categorized as beasts, humanoids, demons or spirits, etc. and their ranks are either lower class, higher class or just in the middle. The red head didn't check on it, seeing as how its more interesting to find out hands on anyways. He was brought out of his musings when Murasakibara stopped "Aka-chin~ Is that it~" the bear gestured to the large castle looming, not too far away. Aomine and Kagami whistled while Kuroko remained as emotionless as ever, since he already came here before "Yes, that is right. You four sneak in from behind, _inconspicuously _without being seen. I'm sure Tetsuya has a spell or two for that and I'll let you in. I don't wanted people to find out just yet."

The group of four nodded and did as they were told. Akashi went to the front of the gate, the two guards who saw him immediately let him through. "Lord Akashi! We are elated for your successful safe journey back." the red head gave a small dip of his head to show that he acknowledged the greeting and went in for a shower. The maids gave him back his usual attire which he wore before he stepped out to the garden to pick his contracted beings up.

When he opened the gates to his gardens, he did _not_ expect an unconscious gardener, A bear eating most of the fruits from a single tree, a dragon coiled around one of said tree's branch, a panther and a tiger arguing whether they should eat the gardener or spare him, looking completely smug with what they had done.

"_**What does the word 'inconspicuously' meant to you lot?**_" Akashi said angrily with an edge in his voice, a hand covering his face. "It wasn't our fault! This guy came in when Kuroko undid the spell!" Kagami growled using a paw to nudge the body. "Besides we weren't the one who knocked him out, Murasakibara did." Aomine added as he yawned "Human-chin doesn't smell nice…..only attacked him because Kuro-chin told me to." said dragon looked up from the branch where he coiled himself around blinking innocently "The less witnesses the better." his words were dark though.

Akashi sighed before deciding to let this matter slide "Daiki, leave him against that tree. The rest of you come inside." The red head then turned around while the four of them did as they were told and followed Akashi into his enormous bedroom. "First things first, all of you take a bath." the red head ordered, throwing some outfits for the contracted beings.

Which was how all of them had been thrown inside the hot springs near the castle. "Kuro-chin~ Could you help me wash back~ My paws don't reach~" The purple giant whined. Kuroko nodded before picking up a bucket, scooping water and throwing it onto the bear before adding soap and scrubbing the fur gently, until it was all cleaned. Next he scrubbed the large claws till it glimmered, honestly he's the mother of this group even though Akashi fussed more then he does. "Thanks~" Murasakibara said childishly, before walking on all four to the hot spring and sinking his whole body into it "Hot water feels great~" "You sound like an old man, Murasakibara-kun." To which the bear pouted.

Kuroko cleaned his scales and claws next, he didn't have a hard time seeing as he was flexible and can easily twist around. The dragon was the next one to enter the water and instantly felt relaxed, he watched the two playful cats playing with soap as they skidded across the floor with it. "Damn you Ahomine!" Kagami yelled removing the soap thrown into his face and countered by throwing another "Missed me Bakagami~", soon it was a soap throwing war until Kuroko broke it up by sending them a glare(Pout) at them.

They soon exited the place and Kuroko had to use a towel to dry them all up before wiping his own scales dry and passed the respective clothing to them each. "Geh! We have to remain in human form?!" Aomine said not completely happy about it. Kuroko just swallowed the pill and started changing, so did Murasakibara. The sweet loving bear didn't cared since Akashi told him if he behaved he'll get some cake.

Kagami and Aomine soon gave in an begun changing. Soon they all looked like princes from some far away land. Kuroko wore long light blue robes with dragon insignias on it, (Similar to a Chinese emperor robes) Murasakibara wore an purple English type of outfit with his hair tied into a ponytail. Kagami wore a Japanese attire which is white with red flames on it while Aomine wore a dark blue French suit.

"Why are we all different?" Kagami asked curious "Perhaps he thought it would suit as this way." Kuroko replied in his usual monotone. They walked out and soon came under the red head's bedroom window, Kuroko then lifted everyone up using wind spells and they entered to see a red head reading a book waiting for them.

"It suits you better then I thought." Akashi said closing his book, chuckling. "Aka-chin~ Cake~" Akashi gestured to the large treat on his desk, Murasakibara's eyes immediately lit up as he stomped towards it "Atsushi, don't make to much of a mess. You've already cleaned up after all." The bear looked up from where he was munching "Hai~"

"What the hell Akashi, why do we have to dress up even though we probably won't leave your room?" Aomine whined, being in human form is constricting to the midnight blue panther. Kagami didn't look better as he fiddled with his clothes and Kuroko's long sleeves. The red head folded his arms in front of his chest. "Although you won't leave, you'll have to meet my parents in the least." "We're not dating or anything so why the formal clothes?!" Kagami growled.

The red head's aura seemed to darken at the phrase 'dating' apparently, meeting with girls is a touchy subject with him. "Taiga," Akashi began before grabbing the tiger's attire and dragged him into another room "We'll have talk about tact." Soon (un)manly shrieks were heard echoing, Aomine had his hands together in a form of a prayer(Which was hilarious because superior beings were closest to gods) "Amen to you cousin." Kagami miraculously returned with cuts here and there and a new attire.

"Now then, I see there are no further complaints," a glare sent to the felines "Lets go." Akashi led the colorful group through the empty hallway and soon reached the room they used for 'family meetings' he opened the door to reveal his father sitting down on one end and his mother beside him. "Ah, Seijuro you have arrived. Come introduce us to your friends." Aomine and Kagami were scandalized by the word 'friend', they were threatened damn it! Murasakibara didn't mind while Kuroko let out a small smile.

Kuroko went first "Nice to meet you, I'm Kuroko Tetsuya. I took care of Akashi-kun before." The two parents nod in understanding.

"I'm Kagami Taiga."

"Aomine Daiki."

"Murasakibara Atsushi." The duo inwardly frowned the first one was polite but the rest needed to learn some manners when addressing someone. "Alright then, could you tell us your rank and which clan if possible." The contracted beings glanced at each other then at Akashi. The red head kept an impassive face but gestured for them to go ahead.

"Actually, all of us left our clans quite some time ago." Kuroko spoke for the rest of them "But our ranking are higher upper class superior beings, if that information will satisfy you." Akashi's parents widened their eyes in surprise while said red head did a better job of concealing it, higher upper class meant that they were exceptional even in their own class. "Then could you tell us what clan you used to be in?"

Aomine snorted "This is beginning to sound like an interrogation." "Daiki. Would you want me to teach you tact as well?" the panther stiffened "Good kitty. Seems you understand." "Akashi you bastard…." the blue head growled. "I apologise but we would prefer to keep that intel private." Kuroko replied swiftly.

The red head's parents shared concerned glances before beckoning their son to come closer for a private talk "Seijuro, they have no manners whatsoever and you have no proof that what Kuroko-kun has said were true." His mother began. "I suggest you sever your contracts, I gave you permission to look for suitable partners not a bunch of pretty boys and hooligans mix. Besides I have a few higher class superior beings in line with actual backing to their claim. Not only that, they have manners of a gentleman."

Akashi narrowed his eyes "Father, Mother. I ask that you respect my decision. However, if you truly doubt them why not test them? Get your so called 'higher' beings and pit them against each other." Akashi's father seemed enraged that his son wouldn't listen to him in this "You are too listen to what I say Seijuro! First impressions are every thing and so far they get a failing grade." his mother placed a hand on her enraged husband's attempting to calm him down to no avail. Picking the proper contracts could help your standing in this world and he would not stand for it if his son made foolish ones on a whim! He attempted to slap some sense into his child but did not get any further when a barrier appeared and repelled it.

"I apologise," Kuroko said as he used his tail to pull the red head away and placed him in the waiting paws of Murasakibara. His tone was visibly angered and that frightened the people who knew how he usually is "You may bad mouth us, I will let it slide. But raising your hand against my king will result in dealing with me." The couple soon found an enraged dragon in front a tiger and a panther beside them, growling menacingly.

"What? You talk so highly of them but won't even accept Akashi's measly challenge? That's pathetic." Aomine spat. "For a human to be this dull, I'm surprised, you can only measure someone's worth when you see it first hand. Talking 'gentlemanly' won't get you anywhere in battle!" Kagami roared. But the first one who made a move was Murasakibara, he said nothing as he slammed his paw infused when dark attribute mana which was blacker then before at the couple who barely dodged "You tried to hurt Aka-chin…I'll Crush you!" he roared and raised his claw for another barrage to bloody slaughter the quivering two.

Akashi's parents weren't warriors either, more of politicians, Akashi's father knew several spells such as barriers but even after he casted them they get smashed easily like pudding. It wasn't helping them when Kuroko casted strength and elemental increases while providing flawless support to the bear. The two felines were there to make sure the couple could not escape and were being played by them like toys.

"Atsushi, Daiki, Taiga and Tetsuya. I'm flattered by your protectiveness but you shall cease this at once." The group instantly stilled, growling rebelliously, backing of slowly before returning to the red head's side. "I wasn't guarding you but my pride!" Kagami yelled at the red head. Akashi inwardly rolled his eyes as his hand extended to scratch the tiger behind the ears, Kagami unconsciously leant towards his hand, damn him for getting his weak spot!

"Father, Mother I hope you'll reconsider my 'measly' request." the red head stood up giving a curt bow before leaving, the rest smirked at the couple before following suit. Akashi's father stood up and furiously slammed his fist onto the table "Damn him! How dare he acts impudent!" "Dear…" Its true that they both knew that their innate mana may be smaller compared to their son but still… "I'll show him whose the leader here, call every single one of those higher class beings!"

The following week after the colorful group's squabble with their king's parents but they still look as pleased and smug as ever. They were staying in the red head's bed room while said red head was studying complex spells and research on where they'll start the next search for their companion. It was in the afternoon and the two felines curled up on the bed, enjoying the warm sensation of the sun. The purple bear was swallowing large quantities of snacks and sweets by the red head's side while Kuroko was floating in the air and reading a novel.

"Tetsuya." The dragon lowered its head beside Akashi who used his hands to scratch under the reptile's chin. Kuroko closed his eyes and sighed in comfort "What is it Sei-kun?" "You sense it don't you?" "Yes I do, apparently not too long ago a few superior beings entered this castle. Around ten of them, but their energies signify a upper middle class and lower upper class ones." "Any problem with them?" "We should be able to take care of it easily." "Good."

No sooner had they finished the conversation did a maid knocked on the door, Kuroko immediately cast a shrouding spell before Akashi called the maid to enter "Akashi-sama, the lord summons you to the arena." "Alright. Understood." the maid bowed before leaving. "About time with that 'measly' request. I'm going to go sore from not battling." The panther said as he cracked his neck "Sore isn't the right word Aomine-kun." "Whatever, its close enough." Kagami was still asleep muttering about meat.

"Atsushi, carry taiga. We're leaving." The bear did as he were told and they soon left for the private arena that Akashi's family owns. Only when Kagami felt malicious intent did he finally awaken, scanning around to see the older Akashi smirking and ten other superior beings in the arena. He spotted an elf, a ogre, hellhound, fairy, karasu tengu, gorgon, large serpent, wolf, gargoyle and lastly a witch spell caster.

"You better hold your word that if we beat these runts we'll get to access that innate mana source." The witch said the older Akashi smirked "I'm sure it is of not problem, there are only four of them. My son won't be battling so you don't have to worry about harming him. After all, this is a trial for his superior beings not him." Akashi knew what his father was implying before muttering a phrase to the colorful group "Win, do whatever you see fit."

"As you say sire." The group responded calling the red head respectfully for the first time. The group jumped into the battlefield with Murasakibara in front, Aomine and Kagami at the side and Kuroko at the back. It was the first time they battled in a group since they usually take on enemies separately but even so the formation was not bad.

The group of ten wasted no time in charging in with gargoyle and karasu tengu in the lead as they were faster while the witch launched fireballs and lightning strike from behind. "Old Friend lend me your strength. Black tortoise's shell." A barrier blocked the incoming shots. "Speed of light exceeding sound. Light attribute: God's speed." the trio gained a speed boost and promptly disappeared. The group halted and turned to look left and right but saw nothing.

They suddenly heard a crow's screech and turned to see Kagami sinking his fangs into its neck. Aomine took care of the gargoyle by it crashing into the ground, smashing it into pieces. Murasakibara slammed a paw into the witched guts knocking her out while his claws sank into her skin. The group remembered what Kuroko had told them "_The ones that charge in first should be dealt with as they are fastest. Their speed could prove troubling. Also aim for the witch first, I can block all her spells while guarding and healing at the same time but this will lessen the burden._"

The trio turned towards the remaining and gave a maniac smirk, feeling their adrenaline rush during battle always felt great. The group of now seven shook of their surprise and came rushing in. The gorgon, elf and hellhound surrounded Kagami while the wolf, large serpent surrounded Aomine. Murasakibara found the Ogre and fairy near him.

Kagami closed his eyes and relied on instinct instead of sight since his opponent was a gorgon. He sensed an arrow being nocked and a the hellhound pouncing towards him. He immediately out stretched his paw and grabbed hold of the hellhounds head and in a split second, brought to block the arrow's trajectory. He charged at the elf encased in flames and bit into the body hard, before swinging his head and throwing the limp body aside.

He heard the gorgon hiss as it slithered around him spewing acid, it burnt at first but felt it healing immediately, he smirked before giving his loudest and most intimidating roar which stunned the gorgon temporarily seeing as he infused it with lightning mana. Kagami then covered the hellhound skull in earth and fire mana before charging towards the gorgon with the limp body of the hellhound in hand. "Meteor jam!" He slammed the hellhound head which he infused with the two different mana and jammed in onto the gorgon's head, hearing a satisfying crack.

Aomine had a serpent constricting him tightly while the wolf pounced onto him slashing rapidly. The midnight blue panther did nothing at first feeling his wounds heal anyway but Kuroko saw this at withheld his healing spells letting the panther feel a sudden amount of pain "Oi Tetsu!" "Take it seriously Aomine-kun." The wolf snarled as he charged towards Kuroko, knowing that if didn't take the black dragon out winning would be close to impossible.

The panther tried to go after him after he realized but was held back by the large hissing serpent. Getting fed up with it, he encased his fangs in piercing fire mana before sinking his fang into it causing the dead snake to loosen immediately. Aomine turned to the wolf to see it explode when Kuroko used his 'Cyclone shot' Slicing the poor body in cuts with extreme pressure applied to it.

Murasakibara felt irritated and stood on two legs, standing taller then the ogre who was arrogantly towering over him. He extended his horns and pierced the tiny fairy, and immediately withdrew it to parry the ogre's large spiked club. He recalled something that the red head said to him "_Atsushi, sometimes 'crushing' your opponents with dark attribute mana won't be enough. Learn some alternatives from Tetsuya._"

The purple haired bear narrowed its slitted violent eyes as it felt irritation at the ogre who skillfully swung its club. Thunder and wind elements circled his paw as he clenched his claws together before thrusting it at the ogre, the strong impact and numbing lightning sent the large one-eyed humanoid straight towards the other side of the arena "Thor's hammer."

The group looked at the fallen beings before returning to Akashi, feeling contented and pleased with the work out they've been given. The older Akashi though felt shock "You barbarians! How did you manage to take them all out?!" The group turned towards him sharp eyes glaring at him looking as if he was a piece of meat. "As we said,"

"We're stronger."

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**Please review~**

**You could say this is more of an introduction of skills but i'm still thinking on how to make Aomine's formless style into a battle move...hmm, i'll work on it. **

**Since i totally made it seem that Akashi's parents were assholes i don't plan to name them any time soon.**


	6. Forest Guardian

**Yes! i'm getting used to writing to finish in a day! Hooray~**

**Kuroshiro. 19- Yes, Tetsuya shall be more than a passer in this fic! As for Aomine's style, thanks for giving more elaboration. Now all i need is to make a flashy move from it~ **

**Kagamine Hikari- Thanks for the compliment~**

**Now then here's the new chapter~**

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After much reluctance from Akashi's father, the group was 'allowed' to continue their search once more after the red head taken care of some necessities and work. The group soon came to another forest hoping it was the right one since they were looking for a forest with a guardian in it. This time was Kuroko's suggestion instead of the usual 'wonder around and we'll probably encounter something' method (This is not Pokemon!) Someone from the Forest guardian clans are usually powerful and often mythical, according to professor Kuroko Black Dragon Tetsuya.

This time the search was fruitful as Akashi and so did the rest sense a powerful and strong presence in the forest, causing the group to tense up. Whatever it was probably sensed them as well, as it was heading towards where they were with incredible speed. It soon came to view as something landed a few metres near them, the group could hear horse hoofs as it walked towards them. The colorful group got into a fighting stance and was momentarily shocked to see that it wasn't just a horse. It was a horse_ and_ dragon hybrid, namely a kirin.

The beast's scales glowed a light green in colour while its mane had a orange shine to it two long goat-like horns poked out of its head as its whiskers similar to Kuroko moved in a wavy movement. It had orange fur at the back of its legs. Its tail remained still as its green eyes went over each member in the flashy group until its eyes landed on Akashi and seemingly glanced at Kuroko. "A friend of yours Tetsu?" "Just because its partial dragon, doesn't mean I know him." the black dragon stated calmly.

"What do you think you're doing here nanodayo?" nano…..dayo? "Oh man, what weird language you have!" Kagami laughed "You're telling me this with those weird eyebrows?" the kirin said as it raised an eyebrow(?) which seem to piss the tiger off. "What you say bastard?!" the tiger wanted to pounce at the irritating beast. It seem to shoot momentary glances at Kuroko before turning towards the leader of the group.

"I'll ask you again, what are you doing here? You wouldn't have come all this way for a picnic." The red head smirked "What if we did?"

"What?" the regal beast asked.

"What?" the others echoed as they stared at their king, did he willingly agree because they could have a picnic?! He's probably joking…. "Tetsuya, could you make a meal? Its almost lunchtime."….or not. The dragon shrugged its shoulders "Sure." "What's with the immediate acceptance of this Tetsu?!" meanwhile the bear didn't cared as it rest under tree, famished. "Kuro-chin~ Hurry it~ I'm starving." The dragon cleaned its claws till they gleamed before nodding at the direction of the bear. He took out fresh meat and ingredients and used its claws to swiftly slice them all, while using fire attribute spells to cook.(The dragon was almost completely certain that spells were _not_ meant to be used this way.)

"Would you like to join us?" He asked the Kirin who stared at the red head before nodding and walking off to stand beside Kuroko. "I'll help out."

"Why are YOU helping?!" the felines roared, the kirin merely scoffed "If I'm eating, I'm making sure nothing odd is added to it nanodayo." it sounded logical but how cautious was this guy? The two gave up as they rested and waited, honestly they could just eat the meat as it is but Kuroko's cooking makes it taste a hell lot better.

Unbeknownst to them all was that they were having a quiet discussion "Why are you here Kuroko?" "Nothing much really, its just that my king is still looking for contracts so I thought we could get you into this. Besides, though slowly 'it' is awakening in him Midorima-kun." the green scaled beast turned to look at him eyes slightly widened in shock "So soon?! It was supposed to be at least a few more years!" "Yes, however his family at a young age forced it to come forth and did so successfully. It wrecked the place and was never spoken of again. Which is why it isn't as dormant as we think it is."

The kirin closed its eyes and shook his head "This is a mess….However sorry, if he wants me to come with him he needs to do so himself. I won't be biased to this just because I was also tasked with overseeing his growth." Kuroko gave a wry smile "We'll see how it turns out." Kuroko served the completed food and stared amusedly as Kagami, Aomine and Murasakibara chomped and swallowed everything like no tomorrow even as the red head was chiding them to chew and eat properly. Midorima stared at them in distaste completely aware that Akashi was observing him.

They finished the food and cleaned the dishes before throwing the items into Kuroko's own dimensional pocket and stared at the retreating back of Midorima "If that is all I'm not staying. I have other things to take care of." "Wait." the kirin halted its movement before turning around "What is it?" "Why don't we accompany you on these 'duties' of yours."

"Hah?!" Aomine shouted "Aka-chin…." The kirin seem to consider the idea turning slightly to glance at the black scale dragon. They had a silent conversation before Midorima gave in "Alright, there is something you dunderheads can do without messing up." He gestured to the two felines and bear. "The reason why I'm weary of people entering now, is because there are humans here who is hiding in this sacred forest. I just need to find him a locate him. Here's an image." The green scaled beast handed over a piece of drawing on what the man looks like "If you want to help, try capturing him. Also he probably has a lackey or two bring them in too. That's all, if you want to maim him be my guest. Just bring him back alive."

Akashi spoke before they could whine "Alright we'll do it. Atsushi, Daiki, Taiga, you three search the west of here. Try not to cause havoc. Tetsuya and myself will search the east, kirin want to come with us?" Midorima nodded and the group split up. "Tell me Kirin, what is your name?" "Midorima Shintarou." The beast replied as it strolled through the forest, it often poked its head through several branches.

"Alright then second question. What is your relationship with Tetsuya?" Said dragon stiffened up, so did Midorima "I don't get what you mean nanodayo. He and I just cooked for a few minutes and exchanged short words with each other that's all." The red head smirked "Fooling me is of no use. My 'emperor eye' picked up several flinches here and there. Also your body stiffened in shock at a point of time, 'exchanging' a few words doesn't do that. Unless you were discussing a serious subject." "We were dicussing ways to cook meat." Akashi as well as Midorima gave skeptical looks to the stone faced dragon "Its not time for you to know yet nanodayo."

"Tetsuya….." "I apologise but even it means defying you I can't say." "Alright I won't press….for now." They soon encountered a wooden house. They searched it and found weapons and several mana infused bombs. "Probably their storage shed." Akashi said as he looked through the area. "Tetsuya send the bombs into the sky, I'll take care of the rest." the red head said as he exited the house, followed by the tall kirin. Kuroko did as he was told except, instead of just the bombs he sent the whole house up into the air.

"Close enough."

"NO IT ISN'T! Nanodayo!" "Flames from the core of the earth, materialize and burn! Pyro sphere." a sphere was launched directly into the sky, setting the whole house ablaze, the bombs in the house detonated and exploded turning the wooden house into ashes. A bush rustled and a shady looking man came out "What have you done?! Those bombs were to attack the capital with!" Akashi didn't pay attention as he surged forward and knocked the man out with martial arts.

"You had problem with this guy?" Akashi said unbelievingly. This man was born with no mana whatsoever and was weak. "He's surprisingly agile and this forest is huge." The beast scoffed as it tied the man up. A loud shriek followed by an explosion was heard and the group didn't need to be told who. "Looks like they cleaned up there too." Kuroko stated emotionlessly.

"Let clean up over here Tetsuya." "Haven't we already…" The green beast began but was cut off when the red head surged forward to attack him "What is the meaning of this?" Midorima asked as he barely evaded the physical blows how fast was he?! Normally he would've just taken the hits, his scales would protect him either way but Akashi covered his hands in earth mana which could easily pierce his scales!

"I've decided for you to come along and if you won't do so willingly I'll use force. Tetsuya, support me." The dragon nodded sending an apologetic look to the beast before chanting spells for defense. Midorima dodged another shot before making one of his own and managed to bypass Kuroko's barrier, the red head widen his eyes in surprise before instinctively leaping back.

"Midorima-kun's specialty is long range spell with high piercing capability. As you can see, it 'bypass' my barrier." Akashi nodded in understanding before deciding to drop defense and charge in. He zips pasts a few more shots before activating his emperor eye. 'left leg, moving a few degrees, right leg, shifting stance. Back legs, supporting weight…..' Akashi filed the information before running past the stunned Midorima with Kuroko's sudden speed boost and 'anklebreak' his back legs causing Midorima to collapse.

Before the beast could get back up he took out his scissors and pointed it at the Kirin's neck. The sharp object gleamed under sun, giving it a eerie shine. "Midorima-kun…..So how do you think he did?" The beast scoffed as it got up, the pair of scissor followed closely "Tetsuya was this merely to spite me?" He narrowed his eyes threateningly, he didn't like it that the beast could plot a step ahead "Not at all, you needed to gain his recognition. After all, beings like him with immense pride will not bow down so easily."

Midorima decided to cut in before the two of them fought "His skill is outstanding to say the least…and he hasn't even casted much offense spells yet. I'd say I'm outmatched since I'm a support type like Kuroko even if my specialties is long range spells. Nanodayo." The condition had been met as his final confirmation for the contract appeared.

"Accept it." The red head said as he buried the pair of scissors into its throat. The kirin read through it without showing signs of fear but inwardly he felt unnerved. Midorima placed a hoof and accepted the contract. A tatoo of a soaring Kirin imprinted itself beside Kuroko's mark. "I should have brought a stronger lucky item….." The green beast muttered.

"Pardon?" Akashi raised his eyebrow as he asked "Midorima-kun has an obsession with items with special mana imbedded into it to increase luck." Kuroko stated as he checked the both of them for wounds. "Its not an obsession! Its for a more guaranteed safety precaution, nanodayo!" Midorima yelled as he dragged the unconscious human back to their meeting point.

They returned to see a slightly charred group and two unconscious lackeys knocked out on the ground. "Daiki, Taiga, Atsushi. Why are you charred?" The two felines gave a sheepish and apologetic look as the bear glared at them. "Well you see Akashi." Aomine began "We wanted to try casting an explosive spell which backfired on us." Kagami finished. Midorima snickered "You didn't manage to teach them Kuroko?" "It was hard…" The dragon stated bluntly.

"Well Akashi told us to learn a spell or two!" Kagami growled and shrinked back when the red head's aura darkened "Ho…So its my fault?" The two felines gulped as they ran off with a enraged red head riding on an equally pissed bear.

The next day after a night of (un)manly shrieks and screams. Midorima told the group to wait as he settled things in his clan. The two cats played around childishly and the bear rested under the shade of a tree. Akashi was (again) studying on a few more complex spell as Kuroko wondered around but not too far away from sight. The dragon suddenly 'hmm?' before picking up a green furred rabbit and went to rejoin the group.

"Sei-kun midorima-kun has arrived." said red head kept his book before looking around for the tall Kirin but saw nothing "Where is shintaro, Tetsuya?" The dragon gestured to the rabbit snuggled in his claws. Kagami and Aomine laughed out loud before asking "What happened to you?!" The rabbit scoffed in a familiar manner.

"It's the surrounding mana nanodayo. I'm a forest guardian who takes in nature energy to maintain my form. I can transform any time I want but this is to conserve energy." "So its just you who has to?" Kagami asked "No actually Kuroko should have been the same but…" The dragon answered the missing part "Shadows exist everywhere. I just have to draw energy from the shades and darkness and I can maintain my form. But Midorima-kun needs more energy than me, after all as you should know. His form is very regal."

Murasakibara who had been quiet until now, attempted to eat Midorima "Wait rabbit-chin~ You smell delicious~" " I'm not edible!" The rabbit yelled as it momentarily transformed back into a Kirin to smash Murasakibara's face with his hooves before returning back and hoping into the dragon's claws.

"I don't like you Kuroko, but you are by far safer then any of them. Nanodayo." The red head smirked in amusement as it walked towards the rabbit before petting it and mounted the purple bear who was still rubbing his face.

"It seems our interesting little group gained a new exotic member." Akashi said chuckling before leading Murasakibara to the direction of the castle.

* * *

**Here comes Shin~chan! Our Tsundere shooter~**

**Like Aomine, i'm trying to come up with a move for Shin~Chan**

**The last of the generation of Miracles is coming as well as the manager so don't need to be hasty now~**

**Please review~**


	7. Dragon teaches, fox learns

**Hey there people~**

**I wanted to upload this sooner but i had something on so it was delayed a few hours...Aw well, i still managed to type it finished.**

**Ririnto- Actually i didn't intend to make him a schemer it just came out that way. Meeting Bakagami and Ahomine was unexpected for Kuroko he only vaguely knew it would turn out that way. And thanks, you actually gave me an idea for Aomine's move! Since, Shin~chan is support type then i'll just stick to what he has now then. And don't worry, you aren't the only one who feels odd that Takao is not around. BUT, Tournaments are bound to have competitors as well if you get what i mean, Kukukuku... I don't mind the long rambling it actually gives me a better understanding of what you feel so its ok in my book.**

***Turns to see KnB material that needs to be revised.* Sob, it will take awhile but i will do it!**

**Anyways, enough with _my_ long ramblings and on with the chapter~**

* * *

"Hey, have you seen Tetsu recently?" Aomine asked his cousin. Kagami's ears perked up before looking at the rest of the faces in the room "You're right, he's not here. I haven't seen him for the past few days either." Its been a month since Midorima joined and the tournament is a mere few weeks away. Akashi had gathered five contracts which was the main requirement and is currently enjoying his free time. "You don't think kuro-chin is been up to something lately~" The glutinous bear said in-between bites while Midorima was looking over his lucky item collection "Hmph Kuroko _has_ been suspicious lately…."

"I'm not up to anything much."

"GAH?!" the group jumped, since when was he there?! "Tetsuya, it is not good to jump out of nowhere. Its bad for the heart." Akashi said as he calmed his breathing down "I will take note. But in my defense I've been here since Aomine-kun has been talking." The colorful bunch felt slightly guilty at not noticing the black scaled dragon. "Then care to explain where have you been recently for the past week?" the red head asked reverting back to the previous question "I was taking a stroll." The group gave skeptical stares but acknowledged what the dragon said while coming to the same conclusion.

'We're going to have to tail him later…'

"Oh. I'm going to leave now. I'll see you later." Kuroko gave a bow as he flew out of the window. The group of five immediately stopped whatever they were doing "I say we follow Kuroko." Kagami stated and the group agreed. Following the dragon was not that hard a task though the group had to stop at quite a distance to prevent him from finding out. The beast did as he explained earlier and flew through the dense forest but not at an extreme height. For a dragon, he has never been fond of heights.

Kuroko soon landed in a clearing, at first the group who had been tailing him for the past ten minutes thought that he was really just flying around. Until they heard a voice talking happily. "Alright, then we'll have to focus on elements of mana next. I hope you properly remembered what I said or something will happen." That voice was in a familiar monotone as he said the threat but people knew he meant what he had said.

"Eh~ But all of it? I remembered what I specialized in only!" the cheery voice whined "Can't we do practice combat? I want to fight against you Kuroko-chi~" The monotone voice softly sighed "Kise-kun you asked me to teach and coach you but not all practices are fighting. You'll need some information and spells stored in your head as well. Now lets start, if you do manage to answer all of them then I'll let you have your practice match."

"Really?! I'll do my best!" "Name the basic and complicated elements." "Urm….The basic elements are um, Fire, water, wind, earth, lightning, light, dark and nature. As for complicated, there are mix spells which uses two or more attributes in it. And there are some like water which could be turned into ice." "Correct." "Yay~" "Then next…."

"Tetsu can teach someone?" Aomine asked softly "Yes Kuroko is actually a fine teacher but the problem is who he's teaching you dolt. Nanodayo." Midorima hissed "What you say bastard?!" The panther hissed back but a glare from Akashi silenced them. "Kise-kun." "Hai?" the dragon whispered something inaudible and not too long after the group had to scatter as yellow flames were sent at their direction.

"Wow Kuroko-chi was right! There was something there!" The group used this chance to identify the stranger. It was a kitsune(Fox) with nine tails, its fur was yellow and had a golden-like shine to it. Its eyes matched the colour of its fur and it showed amazement and amusement. Unlike the rest of them this one belonged to the demon class. "What are you trying to do Kuroko, kill us?!" Kagami roared.

"I apologise. I didn't know it was you. I just knew that someone had been tailing me." '_Liar_!' simultaneous thoughts ran through the group's mind. "Tetsuya. Who is this?" "This is kise-kun. He's a fox demon." "That's not what I meant and you know it."

"…"

"…"

"Well….."

* * *

_It was time to return. They were in a village nearby Akashi's castle and it was soon daybreak. Kuroko slinked around in the shadows, taking out various demons that could prove troublesome. He paused for a break from continuously using his mana and could hear light footsteps, though he didn't move his senses had been doubled and his claws twitched, ready to cast a barrier at any time. But what came out was unexpected, he soon met the face of an impressed two-tailed fox. "Can I help you?" The fox immediately lowered his head "I saw you take out all of them, could you train me in improving my elements?"_

"…_.What for?" The fox lifted his head to show a determined face "I used to be in a clan with high expectations. But my clan only kept higher class demons and since I'm a middle class demon they expelled me for being weak." Kuroko gave a sigh "So, you want revenge?" But surprisingly the fox shook his head "No, I want to prove them wrong! But no matter who I ask no one is willingly to teach me. So I beg of you!" The fox lowers his head once more._

"_What would you do even _if_ you obtained what you seek? How would you prove them wrong?" "That…I don't know. But I just want to be able to advance to the next level for now." Kuroko gave a slight smile at the fox's honesty, he had not heard so much as a single lie as he asked for help. "Alright, I'll teach you."_

"_Really?! Thanks so much! I'm Kise Ryouta, what about you?"_

"_Kuroko Tetsuya."_

"_Nice to be working with you from now on Kuroko-chi!" kuroko inwardly sighed at his new nickname. What had he gotten himself into this time?_

_As they practice spells and Kise's special skills for the past few days continuously, Kuroko noted down that the fox's stamina and mana had increased exceptionally now. His thoughts halted when Kise gave a loud squeal in delight "Kuroko-chi! Come quick! Look!" The dragon immediately flew to where the fox was and widen his eyes when he saw a glowing fox insignia above Kise's head and the extra few tails that grew out, his once pale yellow fur gave off a brilliant golden shine._

"_Congratulations. You have finally advanced to the higher class." the fox gave a wide grin and pounced on the unsuspecting dragon "And its thanks to you~" He immediately let go as he knew his mentor didn't liked getting hugged often. "Well then it seems my part as mentor has ended." Kise widened his eyes and went to stop the leaving dragon "No! I still want you to teach me!"_

"_But you've already achieved your goal, didn't you want to prove them wrong?"_

"_I still do. But I want to be with Kuroko-chi more then those meanies. If your part as mentor ended then could you teach me as a friend?" Kuroko had a shocked face before giving one of his rare genuine smile._

"_I don't see why not."_

* * *

"You advanced from middle class to higher class in a few days?!" Aomine asked incredulously. it's a well known fact that advancement could often take years of training and still could not advance. "In the first place, Kise-kun was upper middle class demon so it wasn't that difficult." "So then Tetsuya, what is his ranking?" "Middle higher class." Akashi gave an impressed look before Kise stepped out.

"You're Kuroko-chi's king?" the red head nodded "Really!? You seem shorter then I imagined-" Akashi had a demonic aura surrounding him as he whipped out his scissors and threw them with deadly accuracy. The fox yelped before ducking down, the rest of the group stared in shock before backing away from the red head as far away as possible.

"You've got guts, I'll give you that. But you've crossed the line." Kise turned to eye his former mentor now friend and saw that he disappeared "Kuroko-chi?! That's mean!" "Arra~ Aka-chin seems really mad." "Of course, calling him as such is taboo." The green furred rabbit specifically didn't use the word 'short' for fear of the red head's anger being directed towards him. Not that he'd ever admit that.

"How about I teach you a 'lesson' as well?" "Eeep! No thanks! I prefer Kuroko-chi!" The fox stated as he attempted to dash away.

Keyword: Attempted.

"Atsushi, Shintaro." The two nodded and glanced at the fox sympathetically before surrounding him. Midorima transformed into a Kirin and used nature energy to create blockades of wood while Murasakibara was big enough to guard a wide area. Seeing no alternatives, Kise ran off through a weak spot in their defense but that was the trap.

"Quicksand of the desert, mud swamps of the jungle. Materialize and swallow what is before me! Quick devourer!" The ground beneath Kise suddenly became soft, but Kuroko taught him how to avoid this trap and immediately leaped upwards using his yellow flames to propel himself. "Taiga, Daiki." The two felines leaped up, Aomine leaped first and provided solid land as Kagami landed on him and jumped with his extraordinary jumping ability and pushed his weight on the fox. Kise who was barely staying afloat as he's not used to this was immediately sent spiraling towards the ground and was caught in the trap. At the last second, Kagami jumped off him and landed safely giving a high five to Aomine. The fox about to sink underground until a claw grabbed hold of him and pulled him out.

"Sei-kun, please forgive him. He just advanced, I don't want him dying yet." The dragon said emotionlessly as he used his claw to lower Kise's head. "Hmm, since you asked nicely….alright, but this will be the first and last time." and as if it were magic, the dangerous aura disappeared, there were a few sighs of relief. "Everyone, we're leaving. Since we already found out what Tetsuya has been doing. And as for Tetsuya, you shall halt Ryouta's training until the tournament has ended."

"Tournament? What's he talking about Kuroko-chi?" Kuroko stared at the red head who gestured him to go ahead and explain. "The tournament is to decide the next emperor for the humans. Different contracted beings most likely the best of their clans are going to enter to battle for their king." "The best….?" Kise suddenly had a light bulb floating on his head. "Ne, Kuroko-chi's king can I join you guys?" Kuroko started in surprise and stared at him with the unspoken question of 'are you sure?'

Kise gave a knowing smile "Ho? What is your special ability?" The fox seem to ponder about a way to explain. "Hmm, Why don't I show you?" The demon turned towards a large rock not too far and began chanting "Quicksand of the desert, mud swamps of the jungle. Materialize and swallow what is before me! Quick Devourer!" the rock was soon sucked into the ground. "Hey isn't that…." Aomine began. "It was the spell Akashi had used. Nanodayo." the Kirin finished for him, the bear who was munching sweet asked "What does that mean then~"

"If you think it's a fluke or that I've learned it before hand then cast a random one." Kise said smugly "Chant Abortion. Pyro Sphere!" a medium sized sphere appeared Kise repeated what Akashi had said and they both launched the attack at once, causing a small explosion. "I'm sure you've guessed but as long as I have enough mana and is within my physical limits, I can copy anything."

Akashi seemed to ponder about it before giving a smirk "Alright, we could use a spare fighter anyways. Your skill is interesting." "Yippee! Isn't it great Kuroko-chi, I get to see you more often now~" a face of indifference greeted him "How mean…" The fox pouted. "And? What is the condition for your contract?" The red head asked impatiently.

"Ah, that. Umm, Its if I accept the contract and that you can scare me." "Scare you?" Akashi lifted his eyebrow at the odd condition. "Yup~ I don't scare easily see. Not even when ghosts are in front of me." He boasted. The red head gave a _very _frightening smirk before going over to the fox and started whispering something in Kise's twitching ear, each passing minute the fox grew paler and paler until finally,

"GYAHHH! NO MORE!" he curled up in a ball chanting something along the lines of 'It's a story. Its just a story….'

With the condition fulfilled, the contract appeared. And as scared shitless as he was, Kise managed to accept it which is what Akashi wanted to praise him for. "Tetsuya, carry him back to the castle." The dragon nodded as he lifted his charge.

The group followed the red head but their curiosities were burning, Murasakibara was the one who asked him after the long silence "Aka-chin, what did you tell Ki-chin?" The red head gave a cunning smirk which made them wonder who was the fox here "Oh. Nothing much really, just a story I heard when I was younger. Do you want to know?"

"No thanks." was the simultaneous reply.

* * *

**And here is Kise-kun~**

**Momoi will come out during the tournament and i'll explain more of the rules of the tournament during next chapter.**

**Please Review~**


	8. Tournament Begins!

"Alright, the tournament begins tomorrow. I'm sure that you've each are prepared for whatever is to come. But first for the registration I want two of you to follow me in human forms." Akashi explained to the group surrounding him. "Why do something so bothersome? Just have everyone go there, it'll be easier." Kagami asked as he used a paw to rub his eyes "Its simple nanodayo. Why let people know what they're up against when you can keep it a secret till the very end?" the rabbit elaborated, scoffing at the blockhead. "Shintaro is correct. So, who wants to accompany me?"

"Then I'll go. I haven't been doing much but rest for awhile, it'll be nice to get out. Besides Akashi may think this way but there are some who likes to show off." Aomine said as yawned loudly, showing rows of teeth. "Hmm, I'll go too Aka-chin~" Murasakibara said childishly, for the past week the bear seemed to have grown exceptionally larger.

"Alright, its settled then. Daiki and Atsushi shall follow me. The rest of you wait in the lodge they have prepared for us." The red head got up and stretched "Come, we're leaving now. The tournament is tomorrow but even from here it'll take half a day to reach the capital." The group agreed and filed out the room after taking the transformation pills and getting dressed.

Midorima wore a normal suit(The mafia kind) with a spotted green undershirt and spectacles because in human form he had horrible eyesight in contrast with his rabbit or Kirin form. In his left hand gripped his lucky item, a stuffed rabbit. Kise wore clothing of an English prince, his outfit has a fluffy cuff and a collar. His clothing was buttoned up and he wore a thin golden cloak on top of his outfit. The rest wore the same type of outfit Akashi passed them when they first came.

They all sat on the large carriage. Some dozed off while Kuroko was still coaching Kise on various spells and abilities to which the yellow head could barely keep up. The blue head also made sure the feline duo was somewhat paying attention as this could probably help them in combat. When they almost reached the capital, the group suddenly tensed up. Akashi only noticed a moment later before Midorima who was closest to him grabbed his waist and leaped out of the carriage.

The others followed and Murasakibara grabbed the driver before following suit. The ground where the carriage had been suddenly exploded, injuring the horses and burning the carriage. "That was close~ Aka-chin you alright over there~" the bear asked as they regrouped. "I'm fine." "But still putting a bomb there is dangerous! What if we got killed or something!" Kise whined out loud.

"That was their intention you idiot. Of course there are bound to be people playing dirty when tournaments are involved. After all, it improves their chances of winning. Nanodayo." the green head said as he pushed up his glasses. "Ne, Midorima-kun." Kuroko asked "When we were capturing those people in the forest, didn't they say something about this?" Akashi as well as Midorima widen their eyes slightly when they remembered.

"_Those bombs were to attack the capital with!_"

"They did mention something like this…" The red head pondered. "But this is not the problem now, we have to reach the capital now. Daiki, Taiga Atsushi. Undo the pills affects." The three did as they were told. "Alright, pick one of them and mount. Tetsuya, make sure the people won't see us." Kuroko started chanting while the others hop onto their respective rides. Kise mounted Aomine carefully, Midorima mounted Kagami much to the tiger's reluctance, Akashi and Kuroko plus one unconscious driver mounted Murasakibara. After ensuring that they were ready("You can just fall off Midorima!" "Try me. Nanodayo.") the group dashed off.

They managed to arrive in record time behind the building. Akashi made sure that all of them were in human form before signaling to Kuroko to undo the spell for him, Aomine and Murasakibara. The others were to wait at the lodge prepared for them. The group then split up to their respective locations. The trio arrived to see a commotion near the registration area and decided to have a look since they had time anyway.

"You worthless shit!" a angry voice yelled as sounds of kicking was heard "I-I'm sorry!" Aomine flinched at the familiar voice screeching in pain. "You couldn't do your own damn simple job properly?!" the group of three now made it to the front to see a pink haired harpy being repeatedly kicked at. The panting king snorted in disgust as he lifted a pink feather necklace and yelled "Contracted being I now break your bond with me!" the man attempted to crush the object but was stopped by Aomine giving time for the object to disappear, if not it would damage the superior being.

"Who are you?! Don't interfere!" Aomine grabbed the fist that the man tried to hit him with "There was no need to go so far." the panther then flicked his wrist sending the man in fancy clothes(He's not one to talk) straight to the wall, he made sure to hold back though, getting disqualified because of harming someone like that was pathetic.

"Oi Akashi! I'm bringing her to our lodge to have four eyes and Tetsu heal her." The red head nodded in acceptance as Aomine carried the harpy away. "Hmm~ Does mine-chin know her~ She doesn't look that great though~" "We'll ponder about that when we return. Come Atsushi." The bear then followed the red head as he went to the registration area.

"Oh you've managed to make it safely." the lady said Akashi raised an eyebrow "You see, someone is out to sabotage the tournament. There was supposed to be over a hundred participating but, only fifteen made it so far you're the sixteenth. The commotion earlier was also because of that." "And the organizers aren't going to do anything about this?" The lady shrugged her shoulders "They see it as a way to weed out the weak. Its cruel really." The lady then passed the registration form to Akashi who filled it up.

"Hmm, Ryouta Demon class….. Daiki and Atsushi beast class. What are Tetsuya, Taiga and Shintaro called?" Akashi asked his companion beside him "Hmm~ I don't know, I don't bother with this~ Ah. But Kuro-chin said if you have a problem with this he told me to pass this to you." The tall giant said as he dug his pockets "Nope not this that's my candy….hmm here." he passed a piece of paper to the red head who opened it. On the piece of paper, there was two words written neatly.

'Celestial deity'

"Ho? I was wondering that they were to regal to be in beast class…." Akashi shrugged it off as nothing but the receptionist was wide eyed in shock muttering something about legendary deities and other incomprehensible words. Akashi passed back the form before asking "If we were to make more contracts during the tournament we'd have to re-register again correct?" "H-Huh? O-Oh yes that's right. One more thing, please fill your team name that we may identify you with." Akashi wrote a name that came out naturally but somehow fitted before picking the rulebook the lady placed on the counter and beckoned the tall giant to follow him back to the lodging.

Upon arriving, the duo saw the group attempting to calm the weeping harpy down. The unconscious driver had already been sent to a carriage to return back. "Akashi-chi! Do something!" Kise whined while keeping his tails away from the pink haired woman who wanted to use it as tissue paper. Akashi sighed and walked towards the woman and took out his scissors pointing it at her throat. "Cease this irritating noise at once or you'll not live any further." the red head said as he narrowed his heterochromatic eyes "Sei-kun that's not how you do it." Kuroko said using his claws to lower the sharp object. Nevertheless, under the threat the harpy no longer cried loudly any more.

"Daiki would you like to start explaining?" said panther flinched "Well, this is… an acquaintance of ours. A friend actually, her name is Momoi Satsuki." Kagami took over the explanation when he felt his cousin could say no more. "A few years ago she left with her king. We never heard from her since, she had said before she left that the person was a nice human but we saw through that mask of filthy lies. We tried to convince her not to go, but she wouldn't take it telling us we wouldn't understand. In the end we got into a fight and she left."

Midorima who was snuggled in Kuroko's claws spoke up "I don't sense anything great from her though. At most a lower middle class or a upper lower class. Nanodayo. Furthermore, it is not of our concern. Why do you think we go through harsh tests to see if the 'king' is suitable for us or not? Its to prevent stuff like this." The feline duo seemed enraged by this "Midorima you bastard! Couldn't you have-" "Sweet talk through it? Cover the truth with less harsh facts? She needs to face it not whine!"

The duo flinched, they knew the forest guardian was right, but still….. "Its alright Dai-chan, Tai-chan. Midorin is absolutely right." The harpy spoke of for the first time. "I couldn't see through his lies which is why I became like this, its none of your fault."

"So what do you plan to do now Momoi-san?" Kuroko asked as he petted the rabbit to release its anger. "Eh? I'm not sure….." The colorful group turned to Akashi to see what was their king's decision. "I'm afraid you can't stay here Satsuki." "But Akashi why-" "This lodge is provided for the competitors only. If they found out that a non-contracted superior being was staying here we could get disqualified." There was a oppressing silence.

"But still, something about her is odd….." The group snapped their heads and turned towards the red head as he activated his emperor eye and scanned the harpy from top to bottom. "I can see even the slightest of muscle movement. Not only that but the flow of mana as well, but hers is completely thrown off and weird." Something seemed to click as Momoi put a wing on her lips "Come to think of it. My previous king often told me to bring forth my sealed strength, though I had no idea whatsoever about what he was talking about."

Kagami an Aomine looked at each other with confused faces "This is actually the first time we heard of it as well." Akashi eyes trailed downwards to the pink head's waist. '_Something isn't right. Both humans and superior beings naturally produce mana and it flows throughout their body. But for her, after mana is made its drawn away and stored at another area…..Hmm?_' the red head stood up and walked towards Momoi, the colorful group was tense with anticipation.

Akashi kneeled down and brushed away her left wing. At the left side of the waist was faint glow, he pushed away some of the feathers and observed with wide eyes. "This is…." "Oi Akashi! What are you doing?!" Aomine roared. "Why don't you see for yourself?" The group huddled around and stared in shock at an eagle imprint on the harpy's skin.

"What's this~" Murasakibara and kise asked clueless. Kuroko turned to look at them with a straight face "Didn't I taught you about this?" Kise gulped as he shrink back. "Obviously he wasn't paying attention. This is a mark of a seal, but this one is particular. Nanodayo." "Correct Shintaro. This seal was made by drawing upon a certain war god's power. I don't know why or how, but someone harnessed a bit of it to be used in the making of this seal."

"Then this is what disrupted Satsuki's mana?" Kagami asked. "Can you remove it?" Aomine questioned further. "Its possible if the person understands the seal's structure." Kuroko elaborated. Kise and Murasakibara gave up on understanding and decided to curl up and rest in a corner. Akashi then gestured for them to get back as he placed a hand on top of the seal, Momoi looked confused. "This will hurt."

He enveloped his fingers with a few basic mana before abruptly piercing the harpy's skin and twisted his fingers to the right. Momoi let out a shriek in pain, Aomine and Kagami had to restrain themselves from running to tackle away the red head. "….Seal who burdens thee, seal who restrains thee. Under my name I release the chains that bind you and set you free!" a mana circle with intricate lines that form the image of an eagle appeared. Akashi jumped back when the abrupt pillar of mana that had been sealed released all at once, burning his hands.

Kuroko and Midorima who transformed immediately dashed to the red head's side and began to heal the steaming hands. Midorima set up various defenses while the others look ready to jump in for offense. After a few minutes, the mana settled down and instead of a harpy, a proud and tall eagle stood at where Momoi was. Instead of two claws it had four, two were acting as legs while two were hands, it had its wings on its back and her hands were gripping a spear.

Since Momoi was female, the eagle was more slender and thin instead of bulky and tough, her feathers were a light pinkish colour which was incredibly odd for an eagle. "Woah, is that a griffin?" Kise asked. "No, griffin are part lion and eagle. This one is just an eagle beast class with a human structure that's all. Nanodayo." But the mana that flowed out was definitely suffocating, it might be because of the abrupt removal of the seal and since the body could only hold so much. All the excess was just released into the atmosphere.

But then they realized that she was just standing there with her eyes closed. "Umm is momo-chi alright?" Kise asked, stepping forward and waved his paw in front of the eagle's face. "Lay her down to rest. Set her spear somewhere else." Akashi ordered. The group did as they were told and gently carried her off to a spare room. "I thought you said only competitors were allowed?" Kagami asked. "Isn't it obvious? That just means she'll be joining us. I'm sure you all can sense it now. She's an middle upper class like Ryouta." Akashi said as he smirked, the more powerful allies the better. The rulebook only said they were allowed to use five contracts at maximum during each round, they didn't say they couldn't have more then five contracts.

* * *

The next morning was a pleasant surprise to the harpy turned eagle. She flexed around before Akashi came in telling her about the contract. She enthusiastically accepted, since she was grateful to Akashi for helping her and braking the seal at the same time. An added bonus is that she could be around her two best friends, Kagami and Aomine and since the two were very careful about their king, she knew that she could trust their decision.

Akashi told Kuroko to submit the entry for another contract before the tournament starts two hours later. During that time, Akashi fulfilled the conditions and was handed his physical object for the contract, a pink feather necklace. Kise was elated at a new cheerful addition to this often gloomy and filled with either bookworms or battle maniacs, though Murasakibara was more in the glutinous teddy bear section.

Before they left, Kuroko had read the rules to them so they wouldn't have to deal with something troublesome like a penalty or worse, disqualification. " 'Since there would also be a battle competition, weapons are allowed, killing is also expected therefore allowed as well.' also 'for each round, a total of only five contracts is permitted. You may swap contracts should one of them be badly injured or enable to continue. However, other then that the five contracts at the start of each round is fixed and may only be changed at the start of the next round. Any other contracts shall be counted as 'reserve contracts.' That's most of the important parts that I've summarized nothing more really."

"Alright then, since that's the case," The red head said as he wore a cloak over his outfit and stepped out of the lodging, the colorful group followed not too far behind.

"Let's win this, Team Teiko."

* * *

**And cut!**

**Whew! Somehow got Momoi into this.**

**And i found that Akashi needed a contract that can fly and has wings so it turned out like that.**

**The other competitors shall be announced in the next chapter as well as the first round.**

**...Momoi as an eagle is odd isn't it? I wanted to put fairy but, but!...We already have two support types...**

***Clear throat.* W-well then Please review~**


	9. First round

**Hey there~ This chapter took longer because i had to research on the players of each team and their members**

**Man it was hard and confusing *Head spins from all the characters names* But i somehow managed to do it! Yay~**

**EclipseKuran- No problem~ I'm also looking forward to what i'll type and somehow odd inspirations.**

**Ririnto- Actually a phoenix Momoi might not be so bad...Anyway that's a nice question you asked. Let me explain. You see, Kagami, Kuroko and Midorima are based on chinese mythology. In the myth there were four animals that guards north, south, east and west. They were (Please note this is their english names) White tiger, black ****tortoise, Azure dragon and phoenix. Kirin is also one of the four benevolent animals and i was_ told_ that it was the leader of the four. And since white tiger(Kagami), Kuroko (Azure dragon, even if its not Azure!), Midorima(Kirin) which was why i didn't want Momoi to be based on another chinese mythology. As for Aomine, a panther isn't in the legend so he's counted in beast class. So in short 'Celestial deity' are those i base off mythologies or they could be in 'demon' class.**

**If you have more questions you can PM me. I don't mind.**

**Alright, on with the chapter~**

* * *

When the colorful group entered, many stared at them. It was understandable, the group looked like a bunch of various and random princes. The cheering of the stands intensified as whispers broke out.

'Ne, Ne who that?'

'You don't know? Its his majesty's current favorite family household. That's their son!'

'Really?! Then are those following him his contracts?!'

'Eh?! But they're all so hot!'

So on and so forth. The group on the other hands paid no attention to them as they continued acting normally with Kise clinging to Kuroko, Aomine and Kagami's bickering, Midorima looking as if he didn't want to be there and Murasakibara talking to Momoi about various snacks and food. Akashi observed their competition closely, puzzled at the fact that there were lesser people mentioned by the receptionist yesterday, currently there were a total of eight teams including them.

'_The teams that didn't make it were probably ambushed. Pathetic, having to resort to foul techniques._' the red head scoffed, but still the remaining were relatively strong still, only a few kings kept their contracted beings hidden. The others showed off in the flashiest way possible. He glanced over to Momoi who seemed to be taking down certain notes, not continuing her chat with Murasakibara. The red head sat on an odd throne in their allotted area, the kings were given privileges as such.

"Satsuki, what were you writing just now?" the pink head flinch in surprise before smiling "Nothing passes you Akashi-kun. Here take a look, its been a habit of mine actually." Momoi passed a few pieces of paper to the red head who studied them in surprise and elation. "Ho? This seems to be the statistics of a few contracted beings, impressive." "Well ever since my seal broke I've been able to see stuff like that." The red head smirked as he leaned his head on one hand.

"Then, how does our little group fare?" The pink head blinked before giving a sheepish smile "Better by a large margin actually. However there are certain contracted beings who could prove troublesome." "I see…This will spice up the tournament and make it interesting then." The chattering stopped when the gates closed and the current emperor makes his appearance giving a loud, boring speech before sitting on a throne. They waited impatiently as the emperor told them they had an hour more before the preparations are done and to explore and figure out our opponents more.

Fellow kings went up to each other making declarations of war while their contracted beings talked to each other. There were actually one or two that went to Akashi to do the same, but the superior aura that the red head exerted and the snarling of some of the more aggressive contracted beings kept them at bay. Until, an odd hawk soared through and went to 'pounce' towards their group.

However, Akashi wasn't the one who received it. Midorima did. The hawk seemed to caw and made noises happily and the group watched in amusement as the green head tried to peal the hawk off. "Shin~chan! Its been awhile miss me?" "No! Never have, Never will!" "Aww, still a tsun-tsun~" the hawk chided as Midorima finally managed to peal him off. Out of pure amusement, Akashi extended his arm. Taking it as an invitation, the hawk landed and used it as a perch.

"Hiya! I'm Takao Kazunari! I take it you're shin~chan's king?" The red head smirked as he used a finger to scratch under the hawk's beak. A few snickers were heard at the sound of Midorima's nickname but the green head kept a face of indifference. Though inside he was very embarrassed. "How peculiar. To answer your question, yes I am. Are you close to Shintaro?" The hawk nodded enthusiastically, breaking free from the red head's comfortable scratching.

"Yup~ He and I are best buds~ Ne Shin~chan?" "We are not." The hawk didn't seemed upset at the refusal and laughed(?)happily. "Well then, I've got to go. My king is getting impatient, I'll see you soon either way. So what's your name?" He directed the question to the still smirking red head. "Akashi Seijuro." "Eh~ Is that so? Anyway its nice to meet you~" the hawk said as he took off, taking care not to damage Akashi's clothing.

"You attract interesting friends Shintaro." "We're not friends." before more bickering started, the loud blaring of horns were heard. "Apologises for the wait! We will now begin the first round! Kings, please select your contracts!" the announcer yelled. "Taiga and Satsuki. You two shall be the reserves for this round." The two nodded, though Kagami was more reluctant. "Akashi! I want to be in the next round." the tiger roared "You'll get your turn." the red head replied swiftly.

The five stepped out and looked around to see other kings sending out their contracted beings but not all of them fulfilled the maximum of five contracts. "Attention! This was not written but the respective kings can also participate in rounds as well! However, he/she may only do so a total of five times so use it well! Without further ado, let us begin the first obstacle in round one! Please send in your first contracted being!"

Seeing as the challenge was not announced, they sent, Midorima under Akashi's command. The announcer yelled once more "From Seirin team, Hyuuga! From Kaijo, Hayakawa! From Touou, Sakurai! From Shuutoku, Takao! From Yosen, Okamura! From Kirisaki Daichi, Furuhashi! From Rakuzan, Hayama! And lastly From Teiko, Midorima! The first obstacle is Spell casting! Targets have been prepared for you, but be warned, there are barriers set up to make your task harder!"

Seirin team started first, the target was forty metres away. Hyuuga belongs in the humanoid class and he started chanting an unknown spell and launched it. The attack slipped through the barrier and completely obliterated the target into ashes. "Heh, Barrier jumper was perfect for this." he said as he pushed up his glasses.

"Wow, Midorima-chi, does he have the same piercing ability as you do?" Kise asked stunned "No that's not quite right. His shot slipped through the barrier completely, bypassing it as if it were not there. But my shot has to clash _with_ the barrier as it pierced through. Piercing through and completely bypassing it is different, Nanodayo."

The judges gave Seirin 10 points for the first part of the obstacle.(A/N: _Let me explain, The winner will by determined by the amount of points earned in the end_.) The following groups did their best but the barrier was stronger then expected and the impact was not enough. Even Midorima had to cast a medium class spell, 'Forest Fury' instead of a basic spell with added increases to score full points.

The score is currently,

Teiko and Seirin:10 Points.

Rakuzan: 9 Points

Touou, Kirisaki Daichi and Shuutoku: 8 Points.

Yosen, Kaijo: 6 Points.

"The next obstacle is Sumo wrestling, a test of strength! Its in a battle royale format! Send in contracts accordingly!" Teiko sent in Murasakibara, Seirin sent in Kiyoshi, Touou sent Wakamatsu, Shuutoku sent in Otsubo, Rakuzan sent in Nebuya, Kirisaki Daichi sent in Haya, Kaijo sent in Kobori and finally Yosen remained the same with Okamura.

Murasakibara immediately went into the ring and undid the pills effect, the rest followed. Kiyoshi was a giant panda, beast class, Nebuya is a cyclops, humanoid class, Otsubo is an alligator, aquatic beast class. Wakamatsu is an leopard, beast class, Okamura is a gorilla, beast class, Kobori is a Cerberus, demon class. And lastly is Haya, he's a fox demon like Kise but there was something sinister about his mana that made the other competitors wary.

"You are allowed to use mana but not spells! Begin!" and the entire group clashed, Murasakibara stayed in the middle of the ring yawning and sitting down, resting. While the others were having their squabbles, Otsubo was tackling Okamura in a standoff and twisted around using his tail to smack the gorilla in the face stunning him and threw him towards Nebuya who immediately whacked him out.

"Yosen, 6 points!" It was determined that the last one standing would get the full ten points while the others were given points based on how long they lasted. Kiyoshi noticed that the purple bear wasn't doing anything and went to poke him. (A/N Really Kiyoshi?-_-) "Come on! Don't laze there! Let's have some fun~" the Panda prodded. The tall giant opened an eye before closing it. "This is a problem….." Kiyoshi said as he scratched his cheeks.

The tall giant only reacted when Otsubo and Kobori doubled team Nebuya and sent him flying towards the slumbering bear. Kiyoshi immediately sidestepped and watched in amazement as the bear managed to grab hold of the cyclops and lift him halfway. "You're annoying~" Murasakibara didn't managed to fling the cyclops though as said humanoid was too heavy. Kiyoshi saw this and immediately went to help.

"Come on I'll give you boost! Ready set and…." The two flung Nebuya towards the squabbling Wakamatsu and Haya, though the fox managed to leap back, Wakamatsu didn't and was flung out of the ring with Nebuya. "Touou, Rakuzan 7 points!" Kiyoshi extended his paw for a high five which the bear lazily accepted. "You're weird and friendly." Murasakibara said as he stood on all fours. "I get that a lot. Come on let's have some fun~" the panda said as nudged the bear towards Otsubo and Kobori.

The duo saw the two approaching beasts and went for a charge, Murasakibara and Kiyoshi countered it evenly by ramming them with the same force and pushing them back, the bear had covered his body in lightning mana stunning the two for a second. Kiyoshi used his large paws and slammed the two heads together and with the help of the large bear, tossed it at the unsuspecting fox.

Haya smirked knowing he could easily dodge this throw but found his body unable to move. He turned to see the purple bear striking the ground with electrified horns sending lightning mana to the ground to paralyze him. Before he could work out a move, two large bodies crashed into him and sent him out of the ring. "Shuutoku, Kaijo and Kirisaki Daichi. 8 points!" The bear smiled lazily at what he had done '_Good thing I was somewhat paying attention to what Kuro-chin said. I didn't think it would be this useful._'

Realizing that he had to knock Kiyoshi out in order to win, Murasakibara walked away a few paces slowly and stood on two legs while taking a defensive stance with his paws wide. Hyuuga was yelling at Kiyoshi that he had to take the bear down not be friends with him. The panda seemed to realized as well, giving the bear an apologetic look as he charged forward with his paws outstretched.

The clashed and it was standoff as neither budged. Kiyoshi tried to grab hold of Murasakibara to lift him even if it was a little bit so he can fling him off but found himself unable to do so even as he used earth mana to support his legs. "Aww man! I can even budge you! How much did you eat!" The panda whined "That's mean~ I only eat a few tens of kilograms of snacks a day~" "Kilograms?!"

Taking advantage of the fact his grip and strength loosened a bit, Murasakibara pushed Kiyoshi back with as much strength as possible and charged in as the panda was still trying to stable himself on the ground. Adding the fact that there was wind mana on his legs increased the speed and Kiyoshi was second to late in defending. Needless to say, the panda was blown out of the ring. "Seirin, 9 points! Teiko 10 points! End of first round!"

"Ouch~ But that was good match~" The panda said as he was carried away by his comrades. Kiyoshi waved at the bear who responded in kind as he walked back to his king's side and immediately started chomping on snacks given to him by Kuroko. "Made a new friend Atsushi?" "Umm~ He's a nice guy~ But weird too~" The red head made a mental note '_Hmm, Seirin seems formidable. But Rakuzan and the others aren't half bad either. But still Kirisaki Daichi, there's something I don't like about them…._' Akashi then stood up "Come, that's all for today. The second round begins tomorrow to give competitors time to rest. Though I find it unnecessary."

The colorful group agreed and followed their king. Numerous pairs of eyes followed them as they talked about Teiko's perfect score for the first round.

Current score,

Seirin: 19 points.

Teiko: 20 points

Kirisaki Daichi: 16 points

Touou: 15 points

Rakuzan: 16 points

Kaijo: 14 points

Shuutoku: 16 points

Yosen: 12 points

* * *

**Alright,*pants* That's for the first round.**

**Also i _might_ not be able to update once a day for awhile...*Looks at test materials that needs to be studied* I will get you for this you damn tests!**

**All well, enough with my whining.**

**Please Review~**


	10. Alliance

***Throws study material into a fire* Burn! Burn! Muhahaha!**

***Turns to see reader* A-Ahem, you saw nothing.**

**Anyway i _had_ to pick up that tempting KnB manga, i just had to.**

**Enjoy~**

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"An alliance?" the red head asked, puzzled with what the man was implying. The man was sweating bullets as he eyed the ferocious beasts around the room, he often kept stuttering as he explained "S-Somewhat, Y-Yes. Its more of a tag team battle format for the second round. His majesty's words were 'during a sudden crisis you use what you have, not what you want.' he wishes to see how well the kings could get along since one of you is going to be the future emperor its best to keep good relationships with the others."

Akashi smirked "Ah is that so? I can definitely see where this is going…So, how are the points given and the amount of alliances made?" "U-Um due to the lack of people and teams, you can only form an 'alliance' with one team. And should your alliance earn ten points then both teams gain ten points. Its wise for the weaker teams to pair up with stronger ones to clinch points but in the end that's the king's choice."

The red head smirk got wider as he waved his hands "Alright, I get the gist of it. You may leave." the messenger got up from his kneeling position, bowed and left the lodge. "What do we do now, Sei-kun?" the black scaled dragon asked as he placed down the novel. "This certainly _is_ interesting. As for the team I want to pair with…..Satsuki." said eagle stopped 'polishing' her feathers and faced the red head.

"Hai?" Akashi gestured to the stack of notes that the pink head written down. "Which one of the teams are the most interesting and least annoying?" the eagle blinked as she went through her notes "I think that would be Seirin. They're a well balanced team and their king…..or is it precise to say queen? has an identical ability of mine to view the others statistics. Though probably not as accurate. Shouldn't we pair ourselves with the strongest group which is currently Rakuzan?"

Akashi waved his hand around "I am assured that our group can win against them. Victory is guaranteed, but making it interesting is a key point as well. See if they are available and send a request to them." Momoi nodded and wrote down a letter to be given and passed it to the red head. "Hmm…Taiga, you didn't have much of a workout did you? Take this to them and bring Ryouta with you." Akashi passed the scroll to the tiger after reading through once and watched as the beast clenched the paper between its jaws and dashed off with a fox behind. The red head almost wanted to snicker when he heard the two of them whined about being 'messengers' of their king.

When they had expected to wait long they were mistaken, Murasakibara and Aomine were sleeping peacefully as Midorima and Akashi fought in 'Shogi' a game Kuroko introduced, similar to the English chess and the red head was immediately hooked. Though a rookie, he managed to beat Midorima multiple times without a single loss, though certain times were close calls. Kuroko was teaching Momoi about mana control.

Until all of a sudden, one can hear loud stomping and what seemed lik a couple of roars as the door to their lodge broke down. The group immediately snapped to attention but was surprised to see a brunette holding Kagami in a choke hold, said tiger was enable to break free and Kise had ducked behind a cat mouth person muttering something under his breath. "Akashi-chi! We brought them! Please save Kagami-chi! I don't think he can last much more without oxygen!" Celestial deity he may be, but then again hell hath no fury like a woman scorned. "Pardon but could you release my contract? I need him alive tomorrow." The brunette let go and took deep breaths to calm herself.

One door repaired, a rejuvenated tiger and a calmed down woman later. The group began their discussion. "First, Taiga what did you do wrong when I simply asked you to send a letter?" Akashi asked as he narrowed his eyes at the tiger who ducked behind Kuroko. "Well…."

* * *

_Kagami and Kise stood in front of a lodge identical to their own and he used his paw to knock on the front door. A man with glasses, Hyuuga was it? Answered the door and immediately widened his eyes at the sight of them before taking a defensive stance. "Whoa! Calm Down! We came to pass you this!" Kise said as he pushed Kagami forward and said tiger placed a scroll in Hyuuga's palm._

_The humanoid skimmed through it and his faced expressed shock before beckoning the two to follow inside. "Riko! A alliance request came in from Teiko!" he yelled. There were a few tumbling sounds as the 'king' ran forward. "What?! I mean we were prepared to send one of them because Teppei said so. But we didn't expect it to succeed much less them coming here themselves! Are you sure?!" "Positive. This is their seal." the humanoid said as he showed the scroll._

_The girl, Riko looked completely skeptical "What is your king thinking?" she asked the two "Ah, well. He said something about wanting to pair up with the most interesting and least annoying one. Mister." Kagami said and almost wanted to shrink back when he felt a deadly aura flowed through the girl._

"_What. Did. You. Call. Me?" she asked sweetly. Kise nudged Kagami me with his paw and hissed "That's a girl you blockhead!" Even Hyuuga seemed to back off as Riko summoned every one of her contracts and chased after the tiger who immediately leaped out at the sense of danger. Though Riko was fast and with the support of Hyuuga she managed to overtake Kagami and grabbed his neck._

_Thus, the position they were in._

* * *

Akashi pinched the bridge of his nose and attempted to keep himself from cackling loudly. He didn't know how Kagami could mistake her as a guy with his sharp eyesight, maybe he could get Tetsuya on that. Plus the chokehold was impressive as well. "I don't know whether we should take it as a complement that you think us as interesting and less annoying. But you could have teamed up with Rakuzan, their ranking is rather high even though their points isn't."

"I wanted to make things interesting." the red head said as he shrugged his shoulders. He had noticed that the girl was scanning the room and the red head's contracts and widened her eyes at the sight of it. "Well I guess we should except. We were planning to send a request anyways because Teppei said it would be fun and we have no reason to object."

"Teppei? Ah, the one Atsushi fought with." said bear was offering sweets to the odd panda who excepted it, they seem to get along well. "Are we the first ones to see your team in their true forms?" Riko asked as she tried to piece together what class they were. "Why don't we start with introductions then? Its not like I have to keep it a secret but might as well keep it a secret till the very end after all, no point letting them see who their up against." the queen nodded in agreement. "Then we'll start first. You don't mind telling us your class as well? We'll do the same." "I don't mind."

Riko gestured for them to line up.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Koganei Shinji, a bake-neko, demon class!"

"You already know me but I'll say it again then. I'm Kiyoshi Teppei, giant panda beast class."

"I'm Izuki Shun. Golden eagle, aerial beast class."

"Hyuuga Junpei. Elf, humanoid class."

"The slient one is Mitobe Rinnosuke, he doesn't talk. Spiritual antelope. Spirit class."

"I'm Tsuchida Satoshi. I don't look like it though I'm a Hebi(Snake)yokai. Demon class."

"Well you should know me by now that I'm the leader of this bunch and my name is Aida Riko. Pleased to meet your acquaintance, Akashi-kun." Riko extended her arms for a handshake and Akashi took it.

"Likewise, I'd hope you won't spread information on us. I'm Akashi Seijuro."

"Kise Ryouta. I'm a fox demon~ Demon class~"

"Murasakibara*Chomp*Atsushi. Bear, beast class."

"Likewise, Aomine Daiki. Panther"

"Momoi Satsuki. Same as Izuki-kun, though I'm a bald eagle."

"Kagami Taiga. White tiger, Celestial deity."

"Midorima Shintaro, Kirin, Celestial deity."

"…."

"…."

"Tetsuya, do not hide. Come and introduce yourself." said dragon came out reluctantly from Akashi's shadow earning several startled screams from the Seirin team. "I'm not good with strangers though." "This is an order." the red head said firmly.

"….Kuroko Tetsuya, Azure dragon, Celestial deity." his said in monotone. "EH?! Akashi-kun has three celestial deities?!" "Is it such a big deal? Demon class should be the equal of this class." "N-No, not really just that they're rarer as they don't really bother with humans much that's all." Celestial deities were hard to come by heck, even Mitobe who was a Spirit class is already rare. "Anyway now that that's decided, I suggest we do something to get to know each other."

In the end they decided to be civilized kings/queens, superior beings and decided to have a chat. They found out about Hyuuga's clutch time and that he and Midorima actually get along very well, though the latter was too prideful to admit. Kuroko and Kagami got well with Kiyoshi and actually see him as a nice, ditzy and odd older brother. Koganei got intimidated by Aomine and Kagami even though they were all felines. Izuki and Momoi talked about the similarities of their species though the former had to go through several of his puns, some of the others kept to themselves while Riko and Akashi talked about plans for tomorrow.

It was the most cheerful the colorful group had been and they secretly thanked Akashi for the very odd choice.

The next day, when they entered the arena crowds went ballistic and cheered for them seeing as the current first place and second place were teaming up and they wanted to see the result of this sure kill pairing. "Wow, just hear them." Kise said. The announcer then said that with the arrival of the Teiko-Seirin alliance the groups are present. Kaijo and Shuutoku paired up followed by, Touou and Rakuzan and finally, Yosen and Kirisaki Daichi.

"First obstacle of round 2 is tag team fights!" Kuroko, Kise, Koganei sat out for this round. The first tag team would be Hyuuga and Midorima, Kaijo and Shuutoku sent out Takao and Moriyama, Touou and Rakuzan sent out Imayoshi and Hayama, Kirisaki Daichi and Yosen sent out Wei Liu and Seto.

The first fight is between, Seirin-Teiko and Rakuzan-Touou, Kirisaki Daichi-Yosen and Kaijo-Shuutoku.

"First obstacle second round, Begin!"

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***Panting* Alright i know this a tad bit short, but it'll have to do for now.**

**I realized i never explained who are the kings so here they are.**

Kings,

Akashi, Riko, Hanamiya, Kasamatsu, Shirogane, Harasawa, Nakatani, Araki.

Contracts,

Kuroko, Murasakibara, Kise, Momoi, Midorima, Kagami, Aomine.(Teiko)

Moriyama, Hayakawa, kobori, Nakamura, (Kaijo)

Hyuuga, Kiyoshi, Izuki, Mitobe, Koganei, Tsuchida (Seirin)

Wakamatsu, Sakurai, Yoshinori, Imayoshi (Touou)

Wei Liu, Himuro, Fukui, Okamura (Yosen)

Furuhashi, Hara, Yamazaki, Seto (Kirisaki Daichi)

Hayama, Nebuya, Mayuzumi, Mibuchi (Rakuzan)

Takao, Kimura, Miyaji, Otsubo (Shuutoku)

**Hopefully that will clear and explain somethings for you.**

**(Or should i have not just have said anything and kept the kings quiet...All well~ There's nothing surprising about this line-up anyway.)**

**If you're about to ask why i didn't let the coach of Kaijo be a 'king' it was both on a whim and i felt that Kasamatsu should be the one leading. My instincts told me~**

**Anyways~ Please review~**


	11. First obstacle, Second round

***Glares at people who saves most of my study materials from oblivion***

**Tch.**

**Anyways, domo! I got another chapter for you guys so enjoy~**

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It turns out that although certain alliances don't get along very well, they still had to work as a team. Midorima is currently in Kirin form dodging from Nebuya who tore apart the arena and threw pieces at the duo while Imayoshi, a spirit class Hyena with the personality of a very cunning person, went and attack the most vulnerable one out of the two as they dodged the physical attacks. "Isn't this bad?" Koganei asked "They haven't done anything but dodge and get separated further. Why didn't you ask someone like Kiyoshi or Kagami to go out?"

Riko agreed that they should have sent out a support type and an offensive type to balance the pairs. But the two decided on their own about this so she had decided respect their decision and put her faith in them. Akashi was the same, but he knew that the green head and bipolar elf would not disappoint. "Let's see what you do now Shintaro, Junpei." Koganei then had his doubts erased as both their leaders watched the match intensely, either way all he could do is hope for the best.

"Ah, this is getting annoying!" Hyuuga yelled as he fired wind spells and earth spells to slow the down the barrages of on-coming attacks, currently in clutch mode. Midorima could not agree more as he felt Nebuya cast the earth spell 'Rock slide' and felt his scales getting scraped even with the barrier placed up. All of a sudden the Kirin felt something heavy on his back and turned around to see the elf squatting on him.

"Wha-? Get off!" Midorima yelled "Now's not the time for your pride! Just bear with it alright! I got a plan and if you want to lose then you can just ignore it! I'm very much open to suggestions!" the bipolar elf yelled angrily. The green head didn't want to admit it, but the elf was right, even if he managed to defend now, he'll run out of stamina and mana sooner or later. "Alright what's the plan?"

The Kirin said as he leaped upwards and used water and heat mana to rapidly cause condensation to occur, forming clouds that could maintain their weight. "You just keep you strongest barrier up that can harm if touched and I'll focus on offense." Midorima nodded as he leaped off and dodged the lightning spell the Hyena launched and another earth spell from the huge cyclops. "Spiritual defense that does the impure harm, protecting us from danger at the same time, thee who has foul intent shall be scorched!"

A barrier of orange light the colour of the sunset formed, it started to point at the tip, forming a spear-like shape. "Spiritual Protection!" Midorima charged at the two who regrouped when they realized the duo were going to charge in. "Heh, as long as we dodge it and run behind, we'll be able to attack from behind!" Nebuya yelled as he sprinted, trying to dash pass them to get to their obvious weak spot.

"After all they have to drop the shield to attack." Imayoshi smirked as he followed from the left side, though something in the back of the beast's mind is screaming that he's forgetting something _very_ important. Hyuuga gave a scary and victorious _smile_ as they tried to run past them, exactly what he hoped they do. "Barrier jumper!" a pure white mana orb was shot and bypassed the barrier catching the startled Hyena in an explosion, Midorima immediately ran into him and pierced him knocking him out.

Nebuya seemed unfazed by it and went to use his bare fists to strike. Hyuuga foresaw this and spun around shooting a water spell 'Clashing waterfall' straight towards the cyclops body and saw the humanoid flinch at the sudden blast, Hyuuga knew that his attribute match-up was poor against water and smirked as he pushed up his glasses. Midorima took the chance that the cyclops was dazed and used his hind legs and kicked the cyclops at full strength with earth mana and watched in satisfaction as the humanoid soared through the arena and crashed into a wall, unable to continue. "Hah! A taste of his own medicine, those rocks hurt damn it!"

The elf said as he healed some of his wounds with basic healing spells and took care of certain scrapes and gashes the Kirin got as well. Until, he was bucked off "I don't like people squatting on me." he scoffed as he walked towards the allotted area. The fuming Hyuuga ran to catch up to him muttering about 'ungrateful bastards.' Teiko-Serin got 5 points while the other alliance got 4 points.

In the other arena, the crowd was cheering for Shuutoku-Kaijo team as they much preferred them to the other team who had done nothing but dirty moves since the battle, even Yosen seems appalled by their 'partner' acts. The Shuutoku-Kaijo alliance was about to beat Yosen but held back as going any further would have killed the representative Wei Liu, so they left him unconscious. But then all of a sudden Seto had nearly killed Takao when he turned around, if Kasamatsu didn't foresee that move and immediately used one of his 'five chances to enter battle' to dash in to cast a high leveled barrier, chances are someone would've died today. The crowd was jeered and booed at Kirisaki Daichi knowing that Yosen was innocent, even the emperor seems displeased.

"T-Thanks." the hawk said as Kasamatsu extended an arm to help him up. "Don't be. My body just acted, if I could prevent a death from someone on my side, I'd gladly do it. Just be more alert." Since Kasamatsu had entered, it was three to one and seeing as he was badly outmatched, Hanamiya gritted his teeth as he ordered a withdrawal. No point fighting a losing battle the man thought although if looks could kill, the queen of Yosen would have sent him to hell ten times over. She was loudly arguing about what he did though the man paid no heed.

The group of three returned back to their allotted area and Kasamatsu watched as his team fret over him. Nakatani had given his apologises and thanks to his fellow king, to think that he had almost lost a contract and an enemy, currently ally had helped him. "Now's not the time for this, Teiko-Seirin team is next and they're a tough bunch."

The teams were given an hour break.

On the Teiko-Seirin side they were discussing who to send out. "Hmm, Daiki you'll go." the panther yawned "Alright. Baka-Tora, if you're gonna complain I'm taking some of your energy, Didn't sleep enough…." "You slept for half of the day! Argh, fine….I got excess either way." Akashi watched in interest as Aomine placed a hand on Kagami's shoulder and closed his eyes for a brief moment and opened them. To a normal person, that's all they did. To them you can feel the tanned teen radiating more mana then ever before.

Akashi turned towards Seirin who also had decided "We're done choosing." Riko nodded "So are we, Mitobe is the one going with Aomine-kun." said person stepped up and bowed. "He said nice to meet you." Koganei interpreted "How can you tell if he doesn't say anything?" Kagami asked, The bake-neko shrugged "Well….It sort of happens." they decided not to press any further and sat down for a break.

Kuroko brought out several pieces of uncooked, fresh food from his dimensional pocket and laid it out before grilling it a serving it simple yet delicious. They watched in amusement and confusion as the Seirin team looked like they never saw normal food much. "Why are all your faces weird~" Murasakibara asked as he threw in a few slices of meat into his mouth.

"W-Well, O-Our leader has never been able to cook. The one who actually cooks is Mitobe…..Wow, this tastes great! Give me the recipe later Kuroko." Hyuuga explained and Kuroko nodded in agreement while Riko just looked plain embarrassed. Well, then again besides the dragon, only Midorima could cook decent food. Akashi was never one for culinary skills and could burn water when boiling it. As Akashi ate, he felt something watching him although he sensed nothing. Call it an instinct…..He raised an eyebrow as the three felines in their team unconsciously shivered, but from what?

The other team were discussing what to do and was eating simple food as well before the match. They kept eyeing their group, trying to figure out which one they'll send out. Though they were more focused in eating then anything else. "If the kings gets a obstacle where they have to cook, we'll be screwed." Kise said munching. The group actually paused at that, but then shrugged it off. What were the chances?(A/N One of fates' favourite phrases keke.)

Part two of the first obstacle continued, Teiko-Serin team as mentioned before sent in Aomine and Mitobe. Kaijo-Shuutoku sent in Hayakawa and Kimura. The four transformed back into their true forms, Hayakawa is in a mix class of demon and spirit, transforming into a large bird that looks like a parrot with claws at the tip of its wings. Kimura is actually in an ancient class a enlarged Velociraptor.

Aomine was trembling with excitement, he had never faced a dinosaur before and that gave it a nice challenge, Mitobe shook his head before walking to the back, not too far and not too near. The panther had seen this movement from Midorima countless times and knew what it meant '_So he's taking care of defense? That's good, I don't want anyone butting in this fight._' The announcer yelled to 'begin' and Hayakawa made the first move, screeching loudly as he charged in.

The panther had sensitive ears so that didn't please him one bit, in fact, he felt as if his ears were going to start to bleed soon. He felt a healing sensation and turned towards the antelope who was whispering something under his breath. Aomine took a deep breath as he felt his spine straightening up and his hind legs become strong enough to hold his weight as he stood upright.

"_You want to know why I could have a human-like structure?" the panther nodded, his new move that he figured out with Kuroko's help actually works better if he could move more agilely. "Umm, If I'm not wrong, you have to concentrate on your mana flow and have it re-construct your system. It feels really weird though."_

Though it was really vague, he managed to master it. His body was covered in a mid-night blue trench coat that he asked Akashi to get him as getting a human-like structure actually thinned out the thickness of his fur coat and made him feel really naked. Aomine smirked and lifted his hands in a gesture 'come and get me.' Miyaji felt pissed at the panther's cockiness and charged in, feeling nature energy swirl around him. Hayakawa just screeched again and took flight and even from there Aomine and even Mitobe could hear him say 'I'll take you down!'

The panther smirked and focused his strength to his legs and accelerated. It made him look like he disappeared, and this was without Kuroko's 'god speed' or 'feather weight'. The three inclusive of Mitobe searched around, all Hayakawa could see is blurs before it disappeared again. Aomine felt great as he dashed behind the reptile and launch a mix spell of 'Pyro sphere' and 'Clashing waterfall' which actually damaged the dinosaur more then the reptile expected.

Aomine then appeared in front of him, not looking tired at all. His tail swished in anticipation and excitement. Hayakawa decided to come in an launched 'meteor strike' after a chant and immediately crashed towards the ground at high speed knowing for sure that the feline would not get out unharmed without a high level defensive spell with chants. As he was about to yell that he 'smashed the cocky bastard' the bird creature eyes widened at the sight of an unharmed Aomine.

Mitobe charged in and tackled the bird towards Miyaji. Said person managed to catch Hayakawa and placed him down. The two's heads were racing with thoughts 'I didn't see him cast anything and even his partner looked stunned meaning the shield wasn't his doing…..How is it that he's casting spells without chants and they manage to hold?!'

The antelope healed Aomine's strained muscles and the panther looked at him with gratitude before stretching his arm. Sure the barrier held up but he was actually a second late in that barrier and the impact still managed to strain his arm. He then heard Hayakawa's screeching "How did you cast that spell without any more chanting?! That barrier shouldn't have held out!"

Back at the temporarily combined area, Kuroko smiled. This was not unnoticed by several of his teammates. "What seems to be humorous Tetsuya?" His king asked "Nothing. Its just that Aomine-kun actually managed to perfect his style." Riko looked puzzled "Actually?" The dragon nodded before explaining "You see, Aomine-kun can't do spell casting as the chants are far too difficult and long for him. Even channeling mana could prove difficult. However chanting is important as it maximizes the spells effect. Each and every spell has its own unique structure." the group nodded in understanding.

Kuroko recalled his conversation.

"_You want to learn of a shortcut to casting spells?" Kuroko asked interested in this conversation and placed down his novel. "Yeah, something not too difficult but strong too." Kuroko placed a claw on his chin and had a thoughtful expression "I've never heard of someone being able to cut short a spell and manages to give the same impact as one who had chanted the spell beforehand."_

_Aomine then smirked "Yeah but then during the time where Satsuki had a seal on and you mentioned something about structures?" Kuroko nodded "Then spells should have their own structure as well! All I have to do is take out certain things in it to make it easier that's all!" Aomine elaborated Kuroko had a face of indifference but inside his was very impressed by what the panther had said "It…might actually work."_

"You mean he disassembled a spell's structure?! But that won't work! Each spell is complicated for a reason and if you do something to that delicate structure the whole spell would be unusable!" Riko shouted in disbelief "Yes that's is correct Riko-san. However Aomine-kun managed to do it, that was his special skill, to locate what was unnecessary and get rid of it, what he deemed unnecessary was the chunk of chants and removed it at the same time, stabilizing the spell so it can still be used. From what I've seen he's already made it so that he only has to think of a spell and channel mana to perform it." Kise had question marks above his head while Akashi nodded, impressed.

"Could you dumb it down for us Kuroko-chi?" the fox pleaded "Basically, its similar to a mathematical question. People has to think of ways and solutions and each question has a unique method to accomplish it. However, Aomine-kun had developed his own 'solution' which he applies to all spells and it works. Its basically structure-less, formless. A answer without a method. A usable key for any lock. That's Aomine-kun's formless style, added with his agility and speed you could say its incredibly formidable." Kuroko elaborated with a sigh. "That's amazing." the Seirin and Teiko team said in unison.

Back in the arena, said panther wished he had a camera. The looks on all three beings as well as the enemy's kings were ridiculously funny that he cackled out loud. "Aww man your faces! This was actually very worth it! Hahahaha!" the panther said as one of his hands(Paws?) slapped his knees and the other held his stomach. He wiped off a tear and had a serious face "Shall we continue?" this snapped the two out of their daze as they split up again. Miyaji went after Mitobe as Hayakawa blocked Aomine from assisting. The antelope didn't look troubled at all as he stood his ground, brandishing its horns threateningly. Aomine tried dashing past the bird creature until said creature swiftly grabbed his legs and sent him into the air.

Mitobe dodged elegantly and landed on the ground as the dinosaur used its appendages carefully and skillfully, such as slapping the majestic beast's face with a tail, using odd positions so that his claws could reach and as expected the spirit class being was not holding out too well. Mitobe then shot a normal spell 'Forest strike' which was an orb of condensed nature energy and launched it.

The velociraptor smirked and dodged to the left "Is that all you can do?! I though a spirit class would put up something better-" his words were cut short as the shot sudden curved into a hook-like shape and exploded upon contact. The dinosaur was sturdy though and shook his head at the impact. When he opened his eyes, it was to see the antelope charging into him and used its unique horns to grab hold of him and sent him crashing to the crowd who immediately dispersed. The reptile saw stars until he blacked out.

Aomine attempted to dodge but mid-air maneuver wasn't easy! He eventually got fed up with it and when the bird came close to dealing its finishing blow, it gave him an opening. The panther smirked as he twisted sideways and casted 'Eclipse' which sent the odd creature crashing towards the arena in flames. The panther used wind spells to gently place him down and groaned in disappointment when he saw the dinosaur already out. "You should've let me finish him…." The panther grumbled at his partner who gave a sheepish smile.

"Teiko-Seirin, 5 points! Shuutoku-Kaijo 4 points! End of first obstacle!"

Current score,

Teiko: 30 points.

Seirin: 29 points.

Kaijo: 23 points

Shuutoku: 25 points.

Yosen: 16 points

Kirisaki Daichi: 20 points.

Rakuzan: 20 points.

Touou: 19 points.

The crowd cheered loudly, as expected of the current strongest team, their matches were certainly interesting. The announcer then shouted "Break time half an hour! After that prepare yourself for an interesting match! The emperor has decided this round to be special and only allow kings to participate! They may bring along a helper, but ultimately the king is the one who has to do 'it'!" Whispers broke out, wondering what 'it' could possibly mean, the red head was puzzled as well. They got their answers soon enough.

"The last obstacle for the day will be cooking! The theme is 'deserts'!" the crowd cheered in agreement and amusement. Sure, the kings could probably vaporize someone but how will they fare in simple matters such as this? Kise suddenly felt really, _really_ small as if he wasn't a fox demon but a small defenseless cat when he felt two very ominous auras surround their leaders and they both looked as if they wanted to smash the fox into a bloody pulp and use him as an ingredient. Why oh why did they just _had_ to jinx it? The two leaders glanced at each other and came to a silent agreement,

Time for a strategy meeting.

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**Buwahaha! Taste the power of the authoress Akashi!**

***A pair of scissors zips past me***

**Akashi: Cease this obstacle at once!**

**Me:E-Eeep! You came out! G-Gomen but i have already typed that their will be cooking this round so there shall be!**

**Akashi: You dare defy me?**

**Authoress Flame-y ran off with a red head behind.**

***Jumps over the sharp object* A-Anyway *Ducks below* T-That's all for now *Twist to the right***

**P-Please review~ ("Damn it Akashi stop trying to kill me!" "Not until you're dead." "That's the reason why i don't want to be killed!")**


	12. Suspension, Nigou and Scavenger hunt?

***Parents nearly succeeded in kidnapping le laptop* Nope not this time!**

**Ciao~ i have come with another chapter~**

**Nostacholy- Kuroko can cook in this fic, he learned it to pass time. As for Kagami, he's a tiger who can just swallow food raw. I doubt he sees logic to cook when he can gobble it up just like that, further more Aomine couldn't teach him, so how will he learn? Kuroko had only learned after they gone separate ways.**

**Ririnto- Yes i pray for the unlucky soul who shall not be named.**

**Enjoy~**

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If Akashi was asked which was the toughest of all the obstacles it would be this one. They had called a strategy meeting where _everyone_ was paying attention, their faces serious. "Obstacle indeed…" the red head said. "If Aka-chin and Riko-chin both make disastrous food then what would happen if they were together~" Murasakibara asked as he munched on meat. The two teams visibly paled, believe them, they _had_ tried to teach them how to cook without it becoming something that looked…mutated. Let just say that both their attempts ended in disaster but that's a different story, right now they had to think of a way to overcome this without failing too badly.

"W-Well, that did say that we could bring one helper." Hyuuga said as his trembling hands pushed up his glasses. "Oh! Me! Me! Akashi-kun let me go with you!" Momoi said enthusiastically, the Teiko team looked like ghosts now and the Seirin team knew why. The pink feathered eagle had asked them to try cooking as horrible as their coach's the other day and they did not want to attempt another taste test.

'_Triple threat!_' the group thought. "A-Ah Momo-chi you can't! I mean Kuroko-chi should be the one to do it since he can cook!" "Eh~ But I can cook as well." Aomine decided to be blunt or they'll never get their point across. "Satsuki its not that, its just that your cooking is neither delicious nor edible." to which the eagle comically wailed and hugged Kuroko. "I'm sorry but I can't be sent out. Sei-kun had me sit out this round remember?" the group flinched upon remembering.

"If that's the case we'll just cook something the judge will always remember." Akashi said as he gestured to Momoi and Riko. '_Its because that's the last thing he'll remember!_' "Akashi-chi, just because you can't do something nicely doesn't mean you have to go all out to make it the worst." '_Something actually useful comes out of this guy's mouth!_' the team thought in unison. "So in short," Koganei said drawing attention towards him "We have Mitobe that can cook from our team and from your team its Kuroko and Midorima right? Since Kuroko had sat out this round, its just Midorima."

The group nodded, those two can indeed cook. But is it enough to be able to negate the two leader's poison? Plus only one of them could go out, they'll have to choose wisely. "The theme is deserts right? Who could make a cake and explain it?" Kagami asked "I'm no good in deserts nanodayo. Kuroko is the one who actually makes it. I make stuff like lunch." the green head explained. "So then that means….." they all turn towards the 'slient, unsung hero.' "We're counting on you Mitobe/Mitobe-kun/Mito-Chin/Mitobe-chi."

Said antelope is sweating bullets. Sure he can make cakes, not bad ones too but he didn't know about teaching it. "Is what Mitobe said." Koganei explained. "Well then go out and have some fun~" Kiyoshi said as he slapped the antelope's back, but the unsaid message was clear as daylight '_good luck_.' on the other hand the rest of them team was saying their own respective prayers. Akashi had tried learning cooking once near a village where they had stopped by and caused an explosion followed by the creation of the now famous 'Poison Crater'.

With the helper selected, the group tried their best in the ten minutes left to teach the duo about ingredients and what the respective 'weapons' as Akashi put it were for, the red head was sure he saw the knives as the main weapon rogues used("That's daggers Sei-kun" "Is that so?") while the red head managed to grasp the 'theory' behind it all, Riko who learned the basics already was thinking of ways to make it more nutritious. Seirin also made sure that Riko could not sneak in any unwanted ingredients other then the ones supplied.

As the break time was up, the kings who entered the stage weren't looking any better. Each of them looked as if they were tasked with a labour fit for the god of strength and stared at the ingredients in pure horror and distaste. "Looks like we aren't the only ones Akashi-kun." Riko whispered from the corner of her mouth, if he wasn't participating in this, he would have laughed and cackled as well but since he was, he couldn't.

Riko then brought out some of the ingredients and began preparing them accordingly, Akashi cracked the eggs and tossed it into a mixing bowl along with butter, flour and sugar in moderate amounts. He was after all very conscious about the diets of his team so although he doesn't cook he still measures the proper amount supposed to be given. Teiko-Seirin seem to breath a sigh of relief as so far, what they were doing was completely normal.

The other teams weren't doing that bad either, probably because of certain members of their teams helping and coaching them slowly. However things went down hill from here on, Yosen's queen brought out what looks like blood but insists its just mashed strawberries with some things added to make it creamy and dumped it into their mixture, Hanamiya didn't mind as he liked the colour and gestured her to go ahead. Wei Liu, the one attempting to teach them sweat dropped but allowed them to continue. Rakuzan-Touou were doing ok as Sakurai was the one coaching them but they barely got much done with all the apologizing so they actually started adding what seems to be right much to the contracted being dismay ("That ingredient is not edible! A-Ah, I'm sorry for speaking up!") the duo stared at the pink substance "Well…." "This should do…"

Shuutoku-Kaijo were starting to infuse mana unintentionally into the batter because Moriyama was teaching them while saying unnecessary stuff on girls and women and how Momoi looked lovely today. The irritation piled up on Kaijo's king as he mixted the batter looking as if he wished it was the irritating contracted beings head. He poured the mixture in a round container not caring that the mixture was glowing with mana and threw it into the oven.

Back with Seirin-Teiko, The two teams eyes widened in absolute pure horror as Akashi opened his dimensional pocket and out popped several of his personal ingredients as well as riko's. The group gulped as Akashi tossed in what looked like Tofu, Seirin prayed as their leader added proteins and vitamins and watched as the batter slowly turned an odd blue after the addition of several odd ingredients. Mitobe had covered his face with his hooves and shook his head, he had tried to stop them but they paid no heed to him. They couldn't take it anymore as Riko placed it into the oven.

"No wait stop!" Kagami roared first.

"Holy Shit! Don't!" Aomine yelled next.

"Noooo! We'll die here if you bake that thing! Stop Akashi-chi!"

"Aka-chin!"

"Sei-kun it would be better for us all if you do not carry on with placing that into the oven."

"Kuroko is right, not that I care or anything-"

"Who cares you damn forest head! Do something!' Hyuuga yelled in clutch mode. All this while, the judge of this event sat there obliviously. All the group seemed to have the same idea as the support types of each group began chanting, Kuroko, Midorima and Hyuuga had done the same and saw Mitobe casting something as well, they were counting down slowly as the kings closed the oven.

"Dragon scale shield and Black tortoise's shell." "Forest protection." "Divine barrier."

Lets just say as all of them dumped their mixture into the oven, much to their respective contracted beings protest, the arena ended up exploding and cakes littered the place, some of the audience ran around as they felt acid on their skin. Others fainted as they swallowed some of the 'treats' even the emperor has collapsed due to the acidic smell coming out from the deserts and had foam coming from his mouth. The judge got his fair share as well and felt the acid burning him, a piece of the mixture exploding at him, blood red cake that flew towards him and he swallowed it feeling sick and lastly the pinkish substance that seem to melt him, needless to say, the judge ran. Kuroko, Midorima, Hyuuga and Mitobe had to put up their best barriers and had to hold it until they managed to get their groups out safe which was not easy, who knew that those toxins could melt the barrier! They heard horns blaring signaling that the obstacle for that round has been suspended and the tournament will resume in a few days time after they took care of the mess and casualties.

"Well that was…interesting." Akashi said as he patted away some powder. "No it isn't! Why did you add those weird things!" Hyuuga yelled still in clutch mode. The group had to agree, they would've suffered some damage and Murasakibara almost wanted to try the desert around the arena, in the bear's head they were all still snacks.

The wary group dragged their way back to the red head's lodge. Seirin agreed to come over after they bathed as round three was still in tag team format and they wanted to get along with each other more. That was until the red head's shadow seem to waver and move like a seaweed. Aomine was the first to notice and immediately tensed up. The group didn't react until something came out from the shadow and pounced onto Akashi said teen didn't put much of a struggled as he heard snarling and something heavy on top. It was a pure black wolf with white spots, its claws were golden and its teeth shined like silver, its eyes were a familiar aquamarine blue.

"Geh! Kuroko, you brought that mutt with you?!" Kagami yelled inching away. "Its not a mutt, it's a puppy." '_You need your eyes checked!_' the group sans Kagami, Aomine and Akashi thought. Kuroko flew to the seemingly harmful wolf and pressed a claw on its forehead. "Down," the mutt whined before obeying "Get off Sei-kun." the wolf did so as its ears pressed onto its skull. "I told you not to attack Sei-kun Nigou." the wolf, Nigou whined as it claws scratched the ground.

Momoi suddenly 'kyaa'ed as she hugged the wolf "He looks just like you Tetsu-kun~" she said rubbing her face onto the wolf's who growled menacingly but was paid no heed by the pink head. So the beast slinked into the shadows before re-appearing behind Akashi who was closer. "Tetsuya, this is?" "My familiar, his name is Nigou. That's why he has the same ability as me." the red head smirked as he scratched the 'puppy' behind its ears, said beast leaned in closer to the swift hand. Kiyoshi came and lifted Nigou with his enormous strength.

"Aww how cute." he said as he rubbed the wolf's stomach. Nigou seemed to like the panda as he barked(?) happily. "We'll continue this later Teppei. We'll see you later then Akashi-kun." Riko said as dragged the panda away from the group and towards their lodge. "So that's why the feline trio tensed up awhile back. A wolf is somewhat akin to a dog." the red head said as he approached the wolf who seemed to have given up on attacking the red head otherwise he'll make his 'master' unhappy. "Kuroko-chi, why call him Nigou? Wasn't there something nicer?" "Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun gave him that name. His full name is Tetsu/Tetsuya Nigou." the dragon said as he called back his familiar. Midorima sighed and decided not to question and Murasakibara just ate his snacks, offering some beef to the wolf who accepted.

The colorful group then head back, although a wolf of all things was incredibly heavy, Kuroko managed to carried him as if it were just a normal dog, the beast had somehow managed to open up to the menacing red head who seemed to love petting him and scratching its ears. "I prefer dogs who are obedient." Akashi replied when asked as he continued petting the wolf. '_Its not a dog!_' the group wanted to say but kept quiet.

Soon the Seirin team came in after both teams had cleaned up. "So then because of the 'incident' we now have a few days before the next round." Riko elaborated '_Don't speak as if it completely wasn't your fault!_' "I say we do something productive an interesting, how about a scavenger hunt? It will improve your observation." before they group could protest about wanting to rest, Akashi spoke up "Interesting. We'll do it, the rest of you could use exercise. Or do you want some special training?" the red head said as a pair of scissors in his hands gleamed. So with the one-sided agreement, the group will be having scavenger hunting tomorrow….

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**Sorry if it was a bit...bland, so to speak.**

**I put Nigou there as the cute puppy deserves some love, plus it just felt incomplete.**

**What shall i do in the scavenger hunt? Any recommendations? Like Akashi being kidnapped, held ransom or...i doubt its possible.**

**Anyway i might post the next chapter in a few days time.**

***Glares hatefully at _my_ last 'obstacle'* Mathematics, you've come once more.**

**Maths: You think you can solve me this time?**

**Try me.**

**Anyways, enough randomness.**

**Please review~**


	13. Scavenger hunt and Ambush

***Poofs out of nowhere* Le me is back! (And hopefully my scores aren't that bad that my precious piece of technology will be taken away...)**

**Anyway i've made a new chapter that ate up quite a bit of my time. But i don't mind.**

**Seriously i've been thinking of getting pairings but...Ah~ decisions.**

**Kuroshiro.19- Well this _is_ scavenger hunting but not exactly the main focus of the chapter. I'll let you see for yourself in this chapter. And i'm glad my laptop is safe too! You know when i see my maths homework or that poisonous cake its hard to make decisions~ It makes me feel like its an important life decision as they're both not exactly what i want to do~  
**

**Anyways~ On with the chapter~**

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Akashi twisted left and right on his king-sized bed. Something felt odd, Nigou noticed this and jumped onto the bed, snuggling beside the red head. The warmth that the wolf provided because of its fur coat and the sweet scent of shampoo soon lulled Akashi into sleep. Usually Kuroko was the one who acted as his bolster, contrary to what one might think, the scales were smooth and the dragon's shape plus comforting presence never failed to put the red head out like a light every time he went to bed trying to sleep but this time the dragon had something to discuss with Midorima and told Akashi to go to sleep first.

Inside his consciousness, it was pitch black. It was usually like this, the red head would get odd dreams like this where he saw little to nothing in the think fog but recently it cleared up and he could see something chained there. The beast glanced up and smirked, tugging slightly at the chains that bounded its body and blazing red bird-like wings.

"_You're here again? We see each other more often now."_

Akashi scoffed "Its not like I choose to. It happens. Who are you?"

"_I'm hurt. Do you truly not know who I am?"_

The red head shook his head. The beast gestured him to come closer, when he didn't the beast rolled its eyes and lifted it arm shaking the chains showing that even if he wanted to do something, he couldn't. Akashi reluctantly went over and felt the beast leaning in to whisper.

"_I'm you. Just more wild, more bloodthirsty. Something that craves for freedom and to do as it pleases."_

"How interesting. Yet here you are, bounded by shackles."

"_Believe me its not my choice either. But since we can actually communicate now, that means these chains would soon come off, the barrier preventing me from coming out would soon shatter."_

"I wonder, should it be for the best?" before the beast could reply, Akashi felt something shaking him. His vision of the place soon blurred and he started seeing black spots.

"_Tch. Time up already? All well, we'll see each other more often anyway. Just a piece of advice, the bucking horse and the lizard are more then they seem."_

That was the last the red head heard until his vision was replaced by a slightly concerned Kuroko. "Are you alright my king? You were trashing around so Nigou came to get me." The dragon said as he curled around Akashi who just chuckled. "No, I'm fine. Just an odd dream." Kuroko raised an eyebrow before inwardly shrugging and started sleeping. Nigou went out to play with Murasakibara who was still awake and eating sweets. The red head pondered about what the beast had said. '_A bucking horse and lizard? There is only one full reptile here and that's Tetsuya. A horse…Shintaro? If I'm not wrong a Kirin should be a mix between horses and dragons._'

The red head decided that thinking about this matter while he was sleepy probably won't help to clear up what the beast had said so he hugged Kuroko and soon fell into a dreamless sleep.

The next morning…

People might expect that the Teiko team would always have wacky and out of control mornings. Well, they were right. As the team started waking up charging sounds could be heard and a panda broke through the front door. (Again? The poor door…..) Akashi twitched, he was never a morning person and could easily snap in chaos in the morning. Just as he was about to fire a dangerous spell, Kuroko came to the rescue and shoved a cup of coffee into the red head's hand.

The group could hear laughter and yelling. Hyuuga stepped out from the dust that flew around. "Sorry about that. This idiot," he gestured to the still goofily smiling panda. "ate something he shouldn't and got too hyperactive." "No its not much of a problem. Except for the door." Akashi said as he pointed to the smashed piece of wood under the panda. "Ah. That. We'll send someone over to repair it. Oh and Riko said that after breakfast to meet up at the mountains behind the lodges." the elf said as dragged the panda away.

Momoi then smiled and spoke up "Ate something he shouldn't? That sounds familiar. Ne Dai-chan, Tai-chan?" the felines flinched as they knew exactly what the eagle was talking about. "What would that be Momo-chi?" "You see, back then when they were younger (quite a few centuries ago…..) the two were curious about a lot of things. So one time they sneaked into the current white tiger chief's chamber and swallowed something that seems to be alcohol. They went rampaging and spewing out some of their 'secrets' which made them the laughing stock of the clan for awhile."

"Oh. That seems interesting. What secrets were they Satsuki? Its potential blackmail." Akashi said as he sat down on a chair, Kuroko went into the kitchen with Midorima and Murasakibara who insists that he's there to help. "Oh that would be-" She didn't get any further as the usually bickering cats worked together splendidly to cover her mouth and the other knocked her unconscious. "Momo-chi!" The two felines cracked their paws "There are some things," Aomine began "that should remain buried." Kagami finished.

"That's mean you two!" Kise said as he lifted Momoi to a nearby couch. Kuroko then called them for breakfast and the whole group went in.(Kise used a bucket of water to wake Momoi up and dried her with his yellow fox flames.) that ate slowly while chatting and some bribing/ threatening on the two felines part to keep Momoi quiet. Koganei came to repair the door and the group waited till it was done for the cat mouth demon to bring them to the mountains where the Seirin team was already waiting for them.

"Alright lets go! We'll split into different teams with members of each team and search! Here is the list." They split into five groups of three.

Hyuuga, Kagami and Kuroko in one group.

Tsuchida, Koganei and Aomine.

Izuki, Momoi and Midorima.

Kise, Murasakibara and Kiyoshi.

Riko, Akashi and Mitobe. They all entered the forest through different routes and began their search.

~Hyuuga, Kagami and Kuroko~

"Umm senpai, what exactly are we looking for?" the tiger asked as he poked his head around. They found out that Hyuuga was older then them by a few years and he demanded them in clutch time to call him 'senpai' needless to say he was intimidating so they agreed. "I'm not sure. The list says we are to find exotic herbs for healing. Kuroko do you know?" the dragon nodded "I'm usually the one who looks out for the group when they have injuries so I do know. Ah, there is one there." He pointed to a multi-colored plant. "Wow that looks incredible." Hyuuga said as plucked the plant and threw it into a pouch.

"So what our quota?" Kagami asked as he plucked another odd looking plant under Kuroko's guidance. "Umm lets see, twenty different types of them the paper says." Hyuuga saw a herb he recognized from a book and went to pull it out. "Ah Senpai please wait that herb is-" the elf didn't hear as he pulled it and a loud screech was heard, the sound was deafening even as Kagami plugged his sensitive ears. The black scaled dragon immediately chanted a sound proof barrier and encased all three of them in it before completely pulling the plant out and placing it into the pouch.

"What was that?!" the two asked. "That plant is called a mandrake. Its used for various potions for witches and is frequently needed. However, you have to pull it out quick as it lets loose that screech you heard. Actually, finding one here growing naturally is quite rare." The elf and the tiger smacked the dragon for saying that in complete deadpan.

"Say that earlier!" "I did but…" The two ignored him as they continued searching for more rare and 'exotic' herbs and most of them placed them in danger. A screeching herb is the last of their worries. "Today is gonna be a long day." Kagami said as panted from being chased by what looks like wasps. Hyuuga and Kuroko agreed.

~Tsuchida, Koganei and Aomine~

"Aww man how troublesome." Aomine said as he yawned. "Come on it isn't that bad!" Koganei chided. "What are we looking for anyway?" the panther asked the snake demon "Oh that, we're looking for specific 'animal' parts. What is Riko thinking when she made this list? A minotaur's horn? Where are we going to find that?" Tsuchida said while sighing. "Isn't interesting? I heard minotaur's are pretty strong." the demon cat said as his two tails shook in anticipation and a tad bit of fear.

When Aomine heard the word 'strong' his ears perked up. "Maybe this won't be completely waste of time after all…Hey cat mouth and snake skin!" the two seemed annoyed be their nicknames but bared with it. "You tell me what to get for the strong 'animal' and when we encounter it I'll take care of killing the prey." the panther said as he licked his lips looking very feral. The two gulped as they saw the excited face, why did they have to get paired up with a battle maniac? Well they decided the pairings by drawing straws so it wasn't exactly their choice but.

'_How scary….._' the two thought in unison as they saw the panther leaping left and right scaring the harmless forest animals away with its growl.

~Izuki, Momoi and Midorima~

"It says here that we're supposed to look for fruits. Any idea what fruits are these Midorin?" Momoi asked the Kirin. "Well I know some of them." was the short curt reply. "You don't talk very much do you?" Izuki said and perked up when he thought of a pun and wrote it down. "Your jokes are horrible." Midorima said bluntly. "Midorin you mustn't say stuff like that. People have their own hobbies just like you have your lucky items." the Kirin just huffed and went to scout ahead.

"Sorry about that he's a bit prideful and a tad bit anti-social." Momoi explained to Izuki "Nah, its alright. I've seen people like that before." Izuki said as he used his talons to pluck a fruit and threw it into a basket. Midorima suddenly yelped and the two dashed to check on him "What's wrong Midori….ma?" Izuki asked as he saw a hawk hugging him. "Shin~chan~ I'm so sorry for not talking with you much~ I wanted our teams to pair together but our king has different ideas! Wahh!" The hawk wailed.

"I don't care! Get off me Takao!" Midorima used a hoof to peal off the smothering hawk. "But its my free time now as our kings are resting up so I decided to look for you~ Aren't you glad Tsun~Tsun~" Midorima didn't get to throw another insult as the hawk decided to perch on his back, while pecking its feathers. It was then that Takao noticed the other two trying to hold in their laughter. "Araa? Isn't it Izuki?" the hawk asked.  
"Nice to see you after awhile Takao. Wait nice?…." Izuki then jotted down another a pun in his note book. "You know him Izuki-san?" "Yeah we're sort of schoolmates." Midorima perked up at that "Do you have a working method to get him off your back?" he asked. "Nope. If he decides to stick onto you he will stick onto you persistently." The kirin let out soft unholy curse. "Oh is that so. Well then Takao-kun, I'm Momoi a aerial type beast eagle."

"Oh wow, same as us! By the way what are you doing here?" the hawk asked "Scavenger hunt for fruits." Midorima grumbled. "Oh! Can I join? Pretty please~" the hawk said jumping up and down. Midorima groaned as the two others with him agreed. "This will be a tiring day." the kirin mumbled.

~Kise, Murasakibara and Kiyoshi~

Kise and Kiyoshi cheerfully hummed as they pushed a reluctant bear through the forest. "Come on Murasakibara-chi! Lets do some scavenger hunting!" the fox said "It will be fun~" the panda added. "I don't wanna~ It takes up energy~" the bear lazily said. "It won't be that bad! Come on, we're looking for ingredients that actually makes up your snacks! If we pick extra we can ask Kuroko-chi or Midorima-chi to make some for you!"

The bear started paying attention when Kise said the word 'sweets' although Midorima had started learning how to make stuff like that recently since they do not want to experience another cooking showdown, the green head and the blue head actually makes some mouth watering sweets that even thinking about it gave the bear energy. "Lets start finding the ingredients then~" Murasakibara said looking rather zealous.

Kise and Kiyoshi high-five when they successfully managed to convince the bear to take part in this. "Lets go and have some fun~ We'll start by looking for a rare type of honey in this parts!" Kiyoshi said and the other two nodded before the three dashed off.

~Riko, Akashi and Mitobe~

While the other groups were excitedly (Somewhat) searching, the three of them enjoyed a moment of peace and serenity. Dealing with the rowdy bunch didn't exactly allow the thing known as 'peace' since the nature of the group is the total opposite of that. They decided to take a slow stroll through the forest to look for a cave.

The trio's item was ores and since stuff like that cannot be found in the open, they had to look around in caves to see if the minerals form there. Well they have all day so why rush? The peaceful chirping of birds and the sound of stream not too far away is to comforting for any hard exercise. Mitobe enjoyed the peace as much as the other two, he was (Unofficially) the peacemaker of the group so seeing no violence is actually really nice. Some birds flew down to perch on his large, faintly glowing with nature mana horns.

"Sometimes I just feel that we're overworked." Riko said and Akashi had to agree, though it was more interesting and lively now, he felt often overworked. "That makes us sound old." the red head said before spotting a cave and walked towards it. However, peaceful times were not meant to last as the group of three sensed a few threatening presences following them. "You feel that?" riko asked and the other two nodded. Mitobe shook his head asking 'How many?' "Around twenty, maybe thirty." Akashi said as he did a mental scan of the area. "That's quite a lot!" Riko hissed. "Hmm, I think its better if we take care of them now. If we enter the cave they can just blow it up and its instant death."

Riko agreed, she was not going to die here. Not yet. "Hey you guys stalking us! Come out! We know you're here!" Riko yelled as the other two got into their attacking stance. The group of around thirty came out and smirked as they brandished their weapons. "We were told to get your head if we wanted payment." the leader said as he lifted his arm and yelled "Charge! Do what you must! Just get their heads!" the group cheered as they ran over to attack.

The respective groups felt something was wrong and had that fact confirmed when the symbols of their contract glowed in warning. They all dashed off immediately to where they sensed fighting and clashing. There was only one thought in their minds.

'_Faster! There is danger! Hurry!_'

Akashi twisted to the left and round house kicked the hooligan with a chainsaw and used a fire spell 'Pyro sphere' at another charging from behind. He leaped up and focused earth mana on his legs as he kicked another with bulky build. Riko casted more spell and used very nice wrestling moves when possible, Mitobe covered any and all weak spots by protecting his leader with his horns brandishing it dangerously as he charged at enemies and threw them in the air where Akashi blasted with several spells.

But eventually they were at each other's backs, panting and sweating as they felt mana being drained repeatedly and physical stamina being eaten up. Although there originally seemed to have around thirty members, the group seemed to increase as time past. '_Must be reinforcements_' the red head thought as he blasted another with a water spell. Riko stabbed another with a lightning javelin, what she did not see was a man with a gun who fired a bullet.

Mitobe saw this at the last second and charged in, blocking the bullet with his body and collapsed soon after. "Mitobe-kun!" Riko said as she went to check the unconscious body, there was a purple spot where the bullet shot through. '_Poison…_' the brunette thought grimly, she turned to see Akashi busy with another bunch of people and she has no time to cast an effective healing spell. Another man saw her helpless and ran towards her, sword raised.

Riko was so focused with healing Mitobe that she did not notice until a shadow loomed from behind her. She turned around with wide eyes and felt her body freeze, she could here Akashi trying to reach her but was blocked with numerous men. She closed her eyes and waited.

But felt nothing.

She opened one of her eyes only to widened them in shock as Kiyoshi stood in front of her, his paws raised to grasp the sharp weapon. Murasakibara slammed his enlarged horns from behind, killing the man instantly. "Are you alright Riko? Sorry I'm late." Kiyoshi asked as he helped his leader up. "A-Ah yes." Riko twisted around to see Hyuuga who arrived and Midorima tending to Mitobe's wounds. Kuroko passed a herb to Takao to pass to the injured antelope which was perfect for the current poison while he joined the rest of the group who were surrounding the attacking men.

Seirin team looked like they were out for blood and Teiko team was no better when they saw the huge gash on Akashi's chest. They each growled menacingly and walked slowly closer to them, the cornered group seem to whimper as the usually concealed aura that normal people cannot sense became clear as daylight, as strong as their killing intent. Kuroko went to drag Akashi away by slinking into the shadows and grabbing the red head, the dragon then gestured for them to go all out as he laid Akashi leaning on a tree.

The outcome was obvious. The angered group obliterated the small human force easily, each dishing out moves meant to be kept hidden until much later. They didn't care as each of them was soaked in the opponents blood, looking more terrifying than before. They managed to restrain themselves from killing the last one, the leader whom they interrogated. "I-I d-don't k-know! T-They s-sent t-the r-request b-by m-mail and d-didn't say m-much!" which didn't help much so that let Aomine and Kagami eat him, he must've tasted horrible as after one bite they started spitting the meat out.

Kiyoshi and Murasakibara block their respective leaders from seeing such a bloody scene which was caused by their blinding rage. They didn't think of anything except '_Injured, Leader_' and they couldn't restrain themselves. Kuroko approached the tired leaders who were resting side by side each other and opened both his clenched claws in front of them. The two felt nothing at first, then they felt sleepy, tired and drowsy. They felt their eyelids drooping, only being able to hear one last whisper.

"Sleep dear leaders. When you wake up, you would see us clean, so there is no need to fear." Kuroko nodded when he confirmed that they were both asleep, he gestured for the two bears to lift Mitobe up. He let Hyuuga carry Riko in bridal style while he passed Akashi to Midorima. The dragon told Takao that he could visit tomorrow, sensing that the two teams wanted to be alone he took off. "Aww man we soaked in blood!" Kise whined.

"Which is why Tetsu put the two of them to sleep, they probably won't look at us the same seeing us all drenched in blood, especially the Seirin team." the group wanted to protest but shut their mouths, because in truth they didn't know how she would've acted, since they usually didn't kill and if they did so, it wouldn't have been that bloody. "Who are you to make that judgment for me?" a voice said.

The group whirled in shock seeing a red head awake on the Kirin's back. His eyes seem to scan the shock group up and down. "Hmm. In truth I wouldn't have mind. After all, I myself is not pure." the red head said as he lead the group to their respective lodges. "Also, I believe that she is strong you are underestimating her too much." He said to the Seirin team before beckoning his group to his lodge.

He told Kuroko to shower first as he had something to talk to him about. The dragon complied, though a bit confused as to what it could be about. He showered in human form as the space was too cramp before wearing his robes, he knocked on Akashi's door and entered to see the red head cleaned and petting Nigou who had been left to 'guard' the place. Akashi then turned and told the wolf to leave which was complied and it went outside to rest under the setting sun.

Akashi beckoned the still confused teen closer, until he was within an arm's reach did the red head did anything. The red head pulled Kuroko onto the bed and placed his body above the shocked blue head. "Tetsuya, I think I've been patient enough. Tell me who you are as well as Shintaro." Kuroko wanted to reject but saw the red head's golden eye shining, the look demanded respect and for his orders to be obeyed. Kuroko felt as if he were pulled into those eyes, did the 'emperor eye' as well as _that_ fully awaken?

"Do you truly want to know?" he asked. The red head nodded. "What would you do if I refuse?" the red head smirked as he used his finger to trace the blue head's chin "I'll use any means necessary to get you to loosen up. I can play it gentle or rough." Kuroko seem to give a faint smile as he spoke "Alright, you'll know soon enough. At the next round, I'll make it known."

* * *

**Hmm, is this possibly slight AkaKuro?!**

***Gasps* I haven't decided on the pairings yet! OMGwhatdoido!**

**W-Well that's all for now. Ciao~**

**And please review~**


	14. Poisoned and Chiefs

***Achoo!* Damn, i've been sneezing a lot recently...**

**Ah well who cares, i've managed to somehow managed to finish this chapter by today. Yay~**

**Guest-Oh you do not know how right you could possibly be. Kuroko is hiding several secrets as well as Midorima, however this chapter only reveals one of them the rest will be told as the story progresses.**

**Enjoy~**

* * *

Tired and exhausted. That was the first thing that Akashi thought when he woke from his bed, each step he took he would wobble and this made him feel weak, pathetic. He started seeing black, his breathing was ragged and difficult. Kuroko entered the room to see his king staggering, the dragon widen its eyes as he caught the red head who collapsed, he placed his scale-y claws on Akashi's forehead, feeling it burn up. The dragon lifted the red head and tucked him back into bed before rushing into the kitchen to get something to cool the fever.

"Arra~ Kuro-chin what's wrong?" Asked Murasakibara as he entered the living room while rubbing his eyes. Not long after the group filed in to see a panicked dragon flying about with herbs. "Kuroko-chi what's wrong?" Kise asked. "This is bad. We didn't manage to cure the poison completely when we treated Sei-kun, right now the poison is spreading fast." Kuroko said in a rush as he grinded herbs together.

The colorful group immediately went into a state of panic, asking the dragon if there was anything they could do. Just before the black scaled dragon could answer, a flustered Hyuuga and Kiyoshi rammed into the lodge. "Something is wrong with Riko! She passed out and it doesn't seem like a normal fever!" They said panting.

"Kuroko what does this mean?" Midorima in rabbit form asked as he hopped beside the dragon. "It seems we didn't completely neutralized the poison that those bandits put onto their weapons. No matter how little, even if its just a tiny scratch the deadly poison will flow in their system." "Oi Tetsu! What do we do then?!" Aomine roared. "I don't have the essential ingredient, the main one to make the antidote. So I'm making a remedy to slow down the pois-" A screeching sound interrupted what he was about to say and the group turned to see a hawk pecking on a window.

"Oi this is bad guys! Most of kings/queens have fallen ill!" Takao exclaimed after he was let in "What?! But only Teiko and Seirin went into the forest the other day and got attacked! How did they-" the hawk raised a wing to halt the rush of questions from Hyuuga. "I don't know. Some of them collapsed and the reason is because of food poisoning while one or two of them were ambushed at night! The cause seem to be the same effective poison and since you made an antidote for it, could you make an extra batch for us?" the hawk pleaded.

"A batch? You're intending to give it to the other kings and queens too?" Kagami asked, Takao shrugged. "My king says that if we were going to beat them its not by something as cheap as poison that they succumbed to. Besides, if they could get a method to help others they will, that's the sort of people they are." Kuroko raised his head to meet the determined eyes of a hawk. "A worthy cause. However, the herb I need is hard to find in the mountains. The reason I was able to make an antidote the last time is because we wondered around and managed to pick some up by luck. If you want me to make a batch you need to gather the ingredients first."

Hyuuga, Kiyoshi and Takao nodded. "It is fair. Kaijo and Shuutoku will assist." Takao said. "So will Seirin. Just tell us where we could find them more easily and we'll go there." Midorima looked at an image of the required herb and a sense of familiarity came to his eyes, Momoi went to look and the same happened as well. "We saw a place that has many of this plant growing. We could take you guys there." the eagle elaborated. "Also, you have until sunset to return." Kuroko added. '_say that piece of important information earlier!_' the group yelled in their heads.

"Lets make haste! The sooner we get this done, the sooner we'll see our leaders up and about!" Hyuuga yelled in clutch time. The group yelled their agreement as several members went to go with Midorima or Momoi. They brought two-three members from each team while the rest remained to keep guard. If this poisoning was intentional then the culprit could use this chance to take out their respective leaders easily in their weakened state.

The group decided to select members to go and to meet up at the forest's entrance in twenty minutes time. Teiko sent Momoi, Kagami and Murasakibara, Kaijo and Shuutoku sent in Miyaji, Kobori, Hayakawa and Takao. Seirin sent Koganei, Hyuuga and Tsuchida. They met up and was surprised to see Imayoshi, Sakurai, Nebuya and Mibuchi from Touou and Rakuzan waiting at the entrance. "Yo!" Imayoshi greeted as he hopped down from the tree he was resting on. "I figured you guys might know something about this when a bloody group dragged their way past our lodge."

"And what would you want?" Kagami asked. The hyena lifted his paws to show that he didn't mean or want any harm. "Nothing much. We just want to find the required items for the medicine as well so we'll land you our help but in exchange you give us some of the medicine. That's all." the group looked at each other. "Well the more the merrier?" Kobori said at last and since they had no time to waste, the group just agreed and dashed into the forest with Momoi leading them.

They ran past trees and some hopped on them at incredible speed. They soon arrived at a cliff which was not too high. "This is it?" Nebuya asked "Yup, above it will be grassland and there would be what we are looking for." Momoi said. The cyclops smirked as he grabbed the rocks and hoisted himself upwards and began climbing, the others followed suit and they were soon at the top. What they saw was shocking.

In the midst of the herbs lies a huge crow. It was resting awhile ago until the presence of the group awakened him, they had a stare off until the crow deemed that they were trespassers while enlarging its huge wings and screeched. Its stood up and used its talons to make the group scatter, "Was this here before Sa-chin?" "No it wasn't!" Momoi said as she took flight "Takao! You're a hawk right?! Explain our situation to it and make it stop attacking us!" Miyaji yelled. "How am I supposed to do that?!" Takao yelled back. "I don't know! Say 'tweet tweet' and explain it in your language!" "It doesn't work that way!"

The crow went after Miyaji and Takao because they attracted the most attention. "Argh, we don't have time for this!" Kagami yelled as he launched large balls of flames at the crow, successfully drawing attention to him. "Don't use any fire attribute spells or you'll burn what we came for!" Imayoshi said as he dodged another talon. "Split into two teams! One of the teams distract birdbrain there and the other collect the herbs!" Hyuuga ordered still in clutch time since they left. Murasakibara, Nebuya, Hayakawa, Miyaji, Imayoshi, Kagami and Kobori lured the bird below to the cliff as the others plucked herb after herb until their quota was filled up more then enough.

They turned to see the crow twisting and slamming its talons at Kobori and Miyaji who managed to grab hold and would not allow it to budge free. "MUSCLE charge!" Nebuya yelled as he slammed the crow into the wall. The others sweat drop at the naming sense. Just as the crow was about to get up, Hayakawa, Imayoshi and Kagami slammed it back into the wall. Murasakibara stepped forward as the other jump off when he sensed the bird has yet to be unconscious. This time he turned one full round, gathering wind mana while his paw started to crackle with lightning mana and it all gathered into his clenched claws. "I'll crush you for standing in the way. Thor's hammer!" the bear cried as he connected his fist with the crow's guts sending it through the cliff and making it fall into a spring.

"….S-Strong….." Sakurai said out loud while the others stared in amazement at the hole the bear beast opened up. "Now's not the time to admire!" Momoi's yelling snapped the group into attention. "We only have three hours left so we better hurry!" Koganei and Tsuchida yelled to the group bellow.

They soon arrive to see a weary Teiko, Seirin, Kaijo and Shuutoku team. "What happened?" Momoi asked. "As we expected, someone _did_ come to take out the leaders while they were weak. We managed to defend, but they were persistent and in large numbers."

_The group of people were anxious while some, namely Aomine were lazing around. The other two were doing their best to provide most of the ingredients for the antidote but the most essential ingredient has not arrive yet. "I hope they come back soon. Knowing that Akashi-chi isn't safe doesn't make me feel well to do anything." Kise said as his ears pressed onto his skull, Nigou, Kuroko's familiar was with the red head and the others will alert them should something happens._

"_Let's put our faith in them. After all, they should be reasonable people who should be able to work together in times like this." Kuroko said as he set aside another grinded into powder ingredient "Who knows about that." Midorima scoffed. Aomine who was resting lazily suddenly perked up and growled attracting the attention of the group. Otsubo and Moriyama stopped their card game as they got up._

_A group of forty crashed through the door with weapons raised. "it's a good thing that Kiyoshi suggested that we move into one lodge or defending might be difficult." Izuki said as he expanded his wings. "Then its simple." Otsubo started._

"_Defend them with your life!"_

"_I've taken a liking to that short stack even though he threatened me and I'm not gonna see him die." Aomine growled as he stood up straight and cracked his knuckles and neck. The others nodded in agreement and that was the start of this mini war. Otsubo used his arms and crashed them into two of the intruders neck before sending them flying into a small group huddled together. Kise launched yellow flames into a few of them casted water spells so it doesn't go to out of control._

_Kuroko casted barriers and provided back up until something in the kitchen rang. "Minna-san, I'm going to change the wet cloth and feed the remedy please hold out." the dragon said as he slinked into the shadows._

"…"

"…"

"_Kuroko/Tetsu/ Kuroko-chi!" they somehow managed to chase the rest of them away and with Midorima's barrier none of them got any cuts from the poisoned weapon. This was the scene that the 'herb finding' group walked in on._

"Anyway, do you have the herb?" Kise asked. Momoi handed over the large bundle. Kuroko, Midorima and Sakurai (Whom, Imayoshi volunteered) went to work. They managed to produce more then enough and handed over the first few to Rakuzan-Touou first as they had to travel back, Sakurai ensured that the medicine had nothing in it as whatever he added the other group did as well. Satisfied, the group took off.

The other four kings were given a generous amount of it "Is Mitobe-kun affected by this?" the antelope shook his head. "Hmm, but take some just in case. The rest of you as well, I told the other teams the same, its for insurance." Kuroko said as he himself swallow the antidote after tending to the kings first. "Takao." "What is it Shin~chan?" "Is Yosen and Kirisaki Daichi affected by this?" The hawk shook his head. "I went to them but it seems they have taken care of things by themselves. I did ask them for the antidote but Kirisaki Daichi chased me away. How mean~"

"Well," Otsubo said as he lifted Nakatani. "We troubled you enough, time to go." Kobori took Kasamatsu and they left. Kiyoshi picked Riko up as they left saying they didn't want to impose on the other either.

* * *

On the exact same day the tournament resumed, Akashi was completely healed, alive and kicking. The group seemed relived(Though some would not admit it) as he stepped out of the room, looking as proud as before.

"Akashi-chi!" the fox said as he pounced on the red head, he didn't care if he'd get stabbed by scissors, he's just glad that his king is alive and well. "Ryouta." the fox ignored it as he wailed louder. The red head decided to let it slide seeing as they _were_ worried. "Do we not have a tournament to resume?" he asked and the other froze.

"…..Oh right, we do." Aomine said as he stopped reading gravure magazines which he got hooked on recently. "Daiki, what is that indecent material you have?" " A hobby!" the panther said as he threw it into his dimensional pocket. "Ryouta, you clung on long enough." the fox sniffed as he reluctantly pealed himself from the red head. Akashi sighed as the group hurried around, preparing for the tournament.

"Tetsuya." said dragon poked his head beside Akashi. "I hope you still remember what you promised then." the reptile nodded. "Good." the red head said as he went for a shower. The colorful group was soon ready as they walked to the entrance of the arena where the Seirin team was waiting for them. "Slow!" Riko yelled as she pointed at several of them, it seems she's back to normal too.

"Sei-kun, I'm going to leave for now." the red head turned to glare at the dragon. "You'll see me soon. You can still call me to the battle if you require." The dragon turned to Midorima picked the rabbit up, walking to another area. "Arre? Where is Mido-chin and Kuro-chin going?" the group turned to see the leaving dragon. "Don't mind him. He seems to have a surprise for us." '_Amuse me Tetsuya._' the red head thought as he went inside and to his allotted area. "Where is Taiga?" Akashi asked, noticing that the rash tiger is not around "He said he sensed a familiar presence and went to confront it. Either way this thing doesn't start until later." Aomine explained while yawning.

~With Kagami~

"Why are you here Tatsuya?" the tiger asked the black striped white tiger. "Oh, you managed to sense me. You see the chief brought me here and during this period I've contracted with Yosen's queen." "Wait! You mean she's here?!" the red striped tiger asked while sweating profusely.

"Yes she is. Something about being bored and since she heard you contracted with a king she wanted to know who. She's drawing a lot of attention right now as a 'guest'." Kagami gulped, he had left the clan against _her_ 'orders' to stay. Needless to say, she was the last person he wanted to see now. "Damn a lot might happen." the red striped tiger said while Himuro chuckled before leaving "See you later Taiga."

~Kuroko and Midorima~  
"Should we really reveal it now?" Midorima asked, Kuroko swiftly replied "He'll find out sooner or later anyway. His used his still awakening 'emperor eye' so I couldn't really say no." the kirin snorted in amusement.

~Back with Teiko-Seirin~

"Oh its starting." Riko stated, the emperor addressed them "The tournament resumes! I apologise for the sudden suspension but certain, ahem 'incidents' had made it necessary. Today, we have three guests to oversee this tournament!" the crowd muttered in suspense as a slender, sliver furred tiger with blond stripes and golden claws came out, her presence made the other contracted beings tense. "Hello! I'm Alex Garcia, chief of the celestial deity clan, White Tiger! Nice to meet ya!" she said cheerfully as gold eyes scanned the competitors.

Kagami and Aomine placed their paws over their heads "Damn its really her…." for the first time, they had to thank the fact that in the past her sight had dwindle slightly so that she couldn't see them trembling. Akashi smirked as a bead of sweat trailed down his chin. "So this is a chief of a celestial deity clan, impressive." which was an understatement, her mana could easily double or triple Akashi's current amount.

All of a sudden something similar slowly approached. Even the crowd could sense that the next one was business. Everyone knew that the chief of celestial deity clans were not to be taken lightly as they support the 'emperor' of the superior beings. The current emperor was doing a horrible job at keeping law, which was why there were many rogues out there and also why many chiefs did not take his side.

A azure dragon walked out, he stood on two claws and a tail that supported his weight. His scales gleamed a sky blue with an aurora-like shine to it, his large wings were folded behind him, his 'hands' were crossed in front of him, the reptile's presence was undeniable. The dragon scanned the crowd with his topaz blue orbs that carried a light purplish tint in it.

Beside him, a jade Kirin walked out. His body had a shape of a horse while his appendages were more of a dragons'. Instead of hoofs, claws stuck out, its scales carried an emerald gleam containing nature energy infused in it. Its gold whiskers move in a seaweed like manner as he looked slightly, _slightly_ embarrassed at the attention on him. Each time he exhaled, small clouds came out as well. The reason why their presence were stronger was because they came out together, otherwise they have the same amount of mana as Alex.

"Domo, I'm the chief of the Azure Dragons. Tetsuya."

"Chief of the Kirins. Shintaro" the two addressed themselves by their first name, hoping that only that specific few recognized them and not all the kings and queens.

"…"

"…"

"EH?!" the Teiko-Seirin team exclaimed in shock.

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***Le gasp* I introduced more then i thought i would.**

**E-Eto i hoped i managed to shock you guys, even if its just a little.**

**The reason why they're stronger is because this form actually allows more mana to flow through and allows them to use it to the maximum potential.**

**Please review~**


	15. Reason and Past

**Well then this chapter is to let out some of the past and a bit of clues (Or is is a big one?) about Midorima and Kuroko, Alex has a part in it as well.**

**Kuroshiro.19- Yup Sei-chan would not be happy about this and is probably planning for a lot of..._things. _Hehe. As for the cats, that will be revealed in this chapter. I'm glad you love the revelation as well as i did.**

**EclipseKuran- I wish you luck for your Writing Final then and i'm glad this made you blow some steam (I blew off some steam myself writing it) As i said i may or may not make this AkaKuro because honestly i don't know how to start. However i already made a separate fic of AkaKuro and you can check it out if you haven't.**

**Well then lets start this chapter~**

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The crowd seems excited. Not only did they get to see a celestial deity, its one of the few chiefs among them as well. The contracted being of each team gulped as well as the leaders, only one of them gritted his teeth in the shadows as he blended in. Akashi looked slightly shocked with his eyes wide, was Tetsuya and Shintaro that strong? The red head had many questions swarming in his head now that he had no answer for and he hated not knowing something.

"Daiki, Taiga." "If you're going to ask whether we know about Tetsu's secret then we do." "However Midorima is new to us." Kagami said. "In the first place, being chief for a celestial deity clan isn't all about skill you need luck as well. Tetsu never wanted to become a chief, he never loved attention." There was silence as the group absorbed that piece of information. "And? What happened next? Don't stop there!" Riko exclaimed. "Its not Ahomine's place to say. You'll have to ask Kuroko yourself." Kagami elaborated.

"This will be a special round to compensate for the cooking obstacle! Its theme this time is barrier casting! High leveled offensive spells will be casted so if you can't make a decent barrier. 'Boom!'" the group looked at each other "Then we'll send in Mitobe." The red head smirked. "Well then lets make it known who Tetsuya is serving under. This will make our little group more interesting." He turned to look at the dragon who was conversing with Alex, the red head concentrated, making his mark of contract glow.

"Tetsu-chan. I never thought you'd be this flashy considering how you are." Alex teased as she poked the dragon's scales. Kuroko unfolded his arms and turned towards her. "It was a request." "Then little shin-kun as well?" "Don't call me that!" the kirin said inwardly shivering because every time that nickname was used, he only though of a certain pestering hawk. "Did you really contract with someone?" the blond striped tiger asked, serious.

"Yes I did." "Is it the same one as who _he _spoke of?" Kuroko nodded "Must be a nice guy, _he_ was interested after all." Midorima choked, Akashi and good just didn't go hand in hand, though he does fuss a lot. "Is little Taiga with you?" "Kagami-kun? Then yes he is." "Oh good! I'll be going to your lodge later then if ya don't mind. I've got a thing or two to tell him….." Alex's aura turned slightly black, Kuroko and Midorima slowly moved away and the poor human emperor had to watch this as mana clashed.

"W-Why did you three decide to c-come here?" he asked.

"It was a request."

"I was threatened."

"Nothing to do."

The emperor sweat dropped at the casual answer. "Midorima-kun, I did not threaten you." "How is 'I will incinerate your lucky item collection if you don't come with me.' not a threat Nanodayo?!" They were interrupted when Kuroko's contract glowed. "Sei-kun is calling." The kirin sighed while Alex laughed. "So much for trying to hide it as much as possible Tetsu-chan. Your king is very demanding, looks like he wants to show _everyone_ that you serve him."

Midorima muttered something about 'That's not even half of it….' 'Shorty with an emperor complex.' something soared through the air stabbed at the ground in front of the Kirin there was a note attached to it. 'I heard that Shintaro, I'll deal with you accordingly later.' Alex broke out into a loud laughter as Midorima paled.

Kuroko sunk into the shadows and appeared behind the team who were shocked out of their lives. "You're up. I'm sure your barrier casting has improved with your new look." Akashi said as he smirked. _'This must be punishment for keeping this from him.'_ The azure dragon nodded as he stepped out an every eyes were on him. The crowd broke out into cheers seeing the dragon participating.

The other teams just look like they were screwed. "Ready senpai?" he asked the antelope who dumbly nodded as it stared at the mesmerizing scales. The first round came and the groups managed to block without difficulty. "That was warm up! The real thing is coming!" Just as the announcer said, the next shots came rapidly and randomly at different intervals. The team looked tired and weary while Kuroko just flicked his wrist(A/N: Like a boss -w-) and an extremely hard barrier materialized which got thicker at every chant the dragon muttered. "Hey…isn't that barrier a basic spell?!" someone exclaimed.

They all turned to see Kuroko casting 'reflecting mirror' which is a basic/normal spell. Needless to say, Teiko-Seirin pulled out with full points. "A-Amazing!" the announcer yelled. Kaijo-Shuutoku scored eight points, Yosen-Kirisaki Daichi seven points, Touou-Rakuzan nine points. Kuroko immediately slinked into shadows once it was done and reappeared beside Akashi, not liking the attention. A chuckle directed his attention to the widely smirking red head as his hands scratched the scales under his chin making him purr in comfort. "We're leaving. Its only an obstacle today. So we have plenty of time to hear your explanation and Tetsuya you _will_ tell us everything from why and how you became the chief to why did you not say anything about this."

The dragon turned to meet his fellow chief's gaze which they recognized and scattered.

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The group of Teiko-Seirin gathered in the lodge. Kuroko gazed at them without saying anything as he waited for the other two to arrive, which was not long as something crashed in the kitchen. The azure dragon got up and went to help Midorima who was crushed under Alex when she pounced on the thin glass door without any warning. "it's a door for a reason! You didn't have to break it Nanodayo!" the kirin fumed as it shook of glass shards stuck on its mane. "Whoops sorry bout that! I'll take note next time!" the tiger apologized as she did the same.

When the three entered the lodge, Aomine and Kagami paled as they tried to _slowly_ inch closer to the door try to make a run for it "Oh no you don't!" Alex growled as she leaped and pressed two paws on their backs. "You're not escaping this time." Her face darkened into pitch black as her eyes got a strange red glow. "I've got a century amount of scolding for both of you and you ain't gonna escape. Got that?"

"H-Hai…." the two said their voices resigned. "Lets hear what Tetsu-chan has to say first, I'm interested as well." the tigress said as all eyes turned to the dragon once more, Kuroko honestly wanted to turn back into his black scaled form but Akashi wouldn't have that. "Lets get this over then. How much has Bakagami and Ahomine said?" "Oi!" Riko cut to the chase. "Not much. Is it okay if we listened in?" Kuroko made a 'its fine' gesture.

"Alright I'll begin from the start. You're probably wondering why I'm the chief or even if have backing to that claim. As well as why I'm contracted with Sei-kun if my mana is well over his." He didn't notice that group leaned forward expectantly as they awaited his answer. "First of all, I do have backing to that claim." The dragon said as he pointed to his chest, the mark of the eastern guardian glowed earning a few gasps. "This is not my form but the first chief of the Azure dragons'. Having this form as well as the mark is needed to be the chief and the only way to obtain it is by having the long gone first chief bestow it on you. Nobody knows how or why and it may seemed farfetched but that is how it is."

"B-But, couldn't you choose not to take leadership?" Kise asked. Kuroko gave a rather bitter smile "I'm afraid not. Passing of leadership doesn't happen often as we are immortal and will not die of old age. However, in the event the death of the current chief occurs, the one known as the 'heavenly azure dragon' will pass its powers onto a single vessel of its choosing. While many would kill for this position, I did not bother. In fact if I could, I would pass it onto someone else but that is not possible. The heavenly dragon's choice is to be respected, anyone who doesn't would be damned in death, that is how it is."

The group was silent at first until Kuroko spoke again "At first I was skeptical at being called the chief and respected by those that shunned me for being different. Azure dragons were meant to shine but I was the personification of black. I came to accept it though but only considered it a task given to me, I never bothered with the honor or fame. But then I found someone, I soon became friends with the former emperor of the superior beings who accepted me not as a chief but as the black scaled dragon that I am."

_Kuroko's PoV._

_Finally its done. The gathering of chiefs is finally over, why did they have to stare at me like I'm naïve or something? Is it just because I was new? I inwardly shrugged as I step into the balcony and was about to take flight to my 'home'._

"_Wait a moment." I turned to see a Pegasus walking towards me. I immediately dropped to my one knee "My Emperor what is it that I could do for you?" The emperor just shook his mane "Please get up, I don't like people kneeling in front of me. Also just address me normally." I was confused at this, weren't emperors the type to take liking when someone kneels at them and gives them respect? Also he seemed to act more carefree rather then the serious face he showed in the meeting._

"_Pardon?" I asked. The emperor shook his mane as he gestured me to follow him. "Would you like some tea? He asked as he guided me to his personal chamber. Normally I would've declined but…The emperor who seemed to sense my thought just gave a chuckle "Don't like tea?" I didn't respond, being the blunt person I am I might accidentally offend him. The Pegasus sighed._

"_Its not like I'm asking you to jump off a building or kill yourself. Just act normal." "As you wish emperor." "Drop the 'emperor' thing! I don't like it." "Alright then umm." "Nijimura. Just call me that." "Lord Nijimura?" "Nope."_

"_Sir?"_

"_Nope."_

"_Your highness?"_

"_Rejected."_

'_Your excellency?" the Pegasus gave a chuckle when he found out the reason behind so many forms of addresses. "If you really aren't comfortable without adding a suffix then Nijimura-san would suffice." I was about to say something until Nijimura shoved a drink into my mouth. A drank it slowly and found myself savoring the taste of the drink._

"_Like it? I thought you might, its vanilla flavored." I just continue sipping my drink. "Never heard of it." "Try cooking then, I'm sure you'll enjoy it." "Hah…Why did Nijimura-san invite me to chat?" the Pegasus gave a smile as it sat down. "I found it that you're too tense. Too dead-like. Try to enjoy life a bit more. You may hate this power bestowed to you but doesn't mean that you treat your life as nothing more to fulfill this task."_

"_It isn't?"_

"_No it isn't." There was silence, I didn't expect the emperor to detect my discomfort, right now everybody tries to butter up to me trying to gain my favour. They even ripped my from my friends Aomine-kun and Kagami-kun, so why should I- "Just because you're the chief now doesn't mean you can't still visit them." I slap a claw above my mouth when I realized I spoke everything out loud, the emperor's warm presence makes me feel like its alright to let everything out. "You belong to the clan who inherits their form from their ancestors as proof of leadership correct?" I nodded._

"_Show me your true form then." "You wouldn't like it." The Pegasus just told me to go ahead. I sighed as I revealed my form. My large claws and azure scales receded covering my body in pitch black scales as I slowly turned back to my long slender form. Nijimura 'hmm'ed for bit as he examined me I close my eyes as I waited for him to say 'hideous' or 'horrible'._

"_What's wrong with it? I find myself quite liking it actually." I opened my eyes to stare in shock as the Pegasus got up and walked towards me. "Outward appearances aren't everything. I've seen those with beautiful forms but horrendous insides, I was interested in you when you just greeted me with a curt bow without trying to gain my favour or any actions to please me. I could see you have a kind soul and I quite like it."_

"…_Thanks…I guess." Nijimura gave a large smile. "You also look like a kid when you drink vanila milkshakes like that!" I managed to contain myself from spewing my drink at the emperor's face. Where did that come from? "I think its time you take your leave, it is getting late. Just make sure you visit more often!"_

"The emperor was like that?" Akashi asked, he himself is intrigued. So judging by that the emperor was serious in important matters but carefree when its not. Wait, didn't Tetsuya said 'former'? "So that was the previous emperor?" Riko asked, it seems she pieced it together too. The group didn't miss the darkening of the three chiefs. Alex spoke in place of Kuroko "Yes former. The current emperor is nothing but scum who over threw Nijimura's rule. He neglected his duties which made many superior beings go out of control which is also why the guardians no longer support him as well as many of the chiefs."

"…..That explains most of my questions." Akashi started (Such as why did Kuroko become chief and how?) "But that doesn't explain why you're contracted with me or where does Shintaro come into this." The three look at each other having a telepathic conversation before Alex spoke "Just don't spill too much." The other two nodded. "Midorima-kun and I met when Nijimura-san had a task for us both and he wanted us to be acquainted with each other, Alex-san came with us on a whim."

"_You called emper- I mean Nijimura-san?" The Pegasus flew down from his 'nest' "Yes I did. Kuroko I would like you to meet Midorima the guardian of the center. He will be accompanying you on this task today." Nijimura beckoned a reluctant Kirin over but before they greeted something bounced into the chamber "Niji~kun~ I'm bored~" the thing said as it accidentally collided with the two beings causing one of them to let out an accidental curse. "Hmm? Who are you two?"_

"_Get off!/ Please move." the two said at once. "Whoops." the beast said as she leaped off. "Please knock next time." Nijimura said with an exasperated sigh but didn't managed to completely hide a smile on his face. "so what were you doing just now?" "I wanted to assign this two on a task. There seems to be troublesome rogues that needed to be taken care of." The tigress seemed excited "That sounds more interesting then what I was about to do~ I'll tag along then."_

_The two introduced themselves during the chat between the two wanted to reject but Nijimura cut in "Alright, you two could also get to know your senior who is also one of the guardians." the two clamped shut, knowing better to defy what an emperor says. The tigress bounced happily while dragging the two by their necks away yelling 'Lets go!'_

_Needless to say, the three eradicated the problem easily but certain accidents and arguments made them come back to the emperor looking slightly charred and displeased. "Did like working with each other?" Kuroko and Midorima looked at each other with lightning coming out while Alex just looked happy. "Yup~"_

"_No." the two said as they fled the room, not wanting to be near the rather wild and inconsiderate tigress any longer then they have. "Those two….."Nijimura said while shaking his mane._

"Definitely Alex." the panther and tiger said at the same time earning a glare from the said chief. "Well we saw each other more, but this is the main part. Nanodayo." Midorima said as his eyes darkened.

"_Why did you call all three of us?" Midorima asked a depressed looking Pegasus, honestly for months the emperor hadn't called them and all of a sudden when he did he looked like something is going to happen. "I've a premonition." Nijimura said as he glided the air and landed in front of them. "That someone will overthrow my rule and obtain my rights to rule." There was an intake of breath._

"_Can we prevent it?" Alex asked, stepping forward. "No, what I saw was blaze and the corpses of many. I want to prevent that but I'm powerless to do so. As you can see, I'm not fit for battle I was chosen to be emperor because of the ancients not because I wanted it." The emperor stated as he sadly shook his mane. "Even if we help you?" Kuroko asked._

"_No, that won't work either. It'll merely drag out the battle, that man, I couldn't see his face but he will fight till the very last. He has made the others believe that _I _am weak and unfitted to rule, he has convinced many of the lower superior beings and rogues. Even _we _will fall in a battle of numbers." There silence between them._

"_So there is nothing we can do. Nanodayo." Midorima stated bitterly. "Perhaps, but perhaps not. I believe that the future is never set in stone. I have seen that fiend take the throne but I do not know how long his rule will last. But what I _did_ see is-"_

Kuroko didn't go further as Alex told him he couldn't say any more "What has that got to do with contracting Akashi-kun though?" Riko asked. Kuroko shrugged. "I was told to look after him once because Nijimura-san said 'there is something special about he.' though he wasn't sure and after _that_ happened I forgot about it until now." "That?" Kise asked. Kuroko turned his head away while Alex grimaced. Midorima stepped up "Two months after he had told us that the rebellion occurred. That man won and took the throne, we were forced to look as he pinned the rightful emperor down and _executed him. _We couldn't take it and went ballistic after that but what had been lost is already lost. Kuroko disappeared while I returned to the forest."

Akashi nodded but there was something missing he felt. Something wasn't completely told yet and he knew it was on purpose, but what? What could it be? He shrugged that thought off as Kuroko transformed back into his black scaled form and Midorima into his rabbit form to preserve energy. "In any case I thank you for keeping your promise Tetsuya." The red head said as he petted the dragon who nodded and flew out the window with Midorima hopping from behind.

"What's wrong with Kuro-chin and Mido-chin?" Alex turned to him "You have to understand kuma-kun that telling you this wasn't easy because saying that the emperor who Tetsu-chan looked up to like a father he never had as well as shin-kun and said that he died is hard for them. Each time they reminisce about the past and for Tetsu-chan, the form he was bestowed on always reminded them about Niji-kun and its very painful for them."

The group turned to the dragon just outside with his body wrapping around a branch and a rabbit beside him as they rested soundly. The two then recalled the piece of information that they didn't manage to say.

"_-Red, blood red and an awakening beast. The odd colored eyes and a paw, a fist drenched in the blood of the usurper in the near future is what I fear and anticipate. He will bring forth many things."_

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***Panting* I have no idea whether i went out of point but hey, after i started typing about this i couldn't stop XD**

**So you get to know Kuro-chin's past which had certain different characters in it.**

**I hope you enjoyed~**

**Please Review~**


	16. Special 1

**Hiyas~ This is not a chapter but a short special.**

**Kuroshiro.19- Hmm i'm glad it did~ I wonder what would Alex have them do? Keke *Evil gears in my head turning***

**EclipseKuran- I'm glad it helped you relive some stress, that's the main thing when reading fanfics~**

**'lia'- I '_Apologise'_ if my formatting is 'no good' and you 'don't like it'. You know, i don't mind these reviews or the criticism but elaborate more, i'll take your advice and find a beta when i have time. _However_, if you want to say these things may i _suggest_ that you PM me with more details if you give me vague things like 'several other details' i have no clue what you're talking about and what part of 'formatting'? I'm open to suggestions but if you don't have the guts to come up to me and say it while hiding and being 'anonymous' then i will not consider it.**

**Anyways~ Enough with me acting pissy.(I don't like it much but it just irritates me) Enjoy~**

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Special~ Attempted cooking lessons. (Teiko team)

Akashi Seijuro, son of one of the most influential duke of this world Fantasia is a perfectionist, he hates to admit his flaws(If he has any) and will try to make it so that he has none. However, no matter how perfect he can be or wants to be, humans have a limit for such things. So while he excels in knowledge and mana chanting, stuff like normal household chores baffles him. After all as they say, the wall blocking insanity and genius is but a thin line.

This is the time before the tournament started. Akashi, Kuroko, Midorima, Murasakibara, Aomine and Kagami had stopped at a village before they returned to the great castle, the village is known to be one of the best in medicines so Midorima and Kuroko had plenty to learn from the people living there while the others did as they pleased, often assisting the townsfolk as they are rather close to Akashi.

Until out of the blue, the said red head had asked(Demanded) "Everyone, I have a _request._" Which immediately got the attention of the group. As far as they've known, requesting is rather non-existent in Akashi's dictionary in fact, the word request has been replaced by 'demand'. "Which is?" Kagami asked suspiciously, something was about to go wrong he can feel it!

"I require to know about the other fine arts of culinary. I was hoping one of you could coach me." Akashi said as he shrugged. The group looked at each other, it was a reasonable request but what was this odd feeling? "Sure we can each take turns to help you." Kuroko said as he placed down his notes on herbs. "But we can't cook!" The two felines protested. "I can't either~" the bear said as he licked away the crumbs from his claws.

Midorima massaged his forehead with a furry paw. "We'll pass you the basics Nanodayo." The rabbit tossed a book towards the three blockheads. The cover read: 'Teaching cooking for dummies.' Akashi smirked at the title of the cover. "Its for you three Nanodayo. I hope you can at least understand this."

Though said trio took offense at the title of the cover and tried ripping it off but Kuroko had thought of that and enhanced the book with mana to prevent that, he still needed the book after all. So in three hours, the group of six gathered at a clearing near a forest and began.

Teacher number 1: Murasakibara.

"Hmm~ I drew the first one~" he said lazily as he looked through the ingredients, Akashi did the same. "What do we do now~" he asked looking at Akashi. "That is what I should be asking you Atsushi." The bear fingered with the onions for awhile as he sniffed them. "Blegh~ Doesn't smell sweet~ Though…." he eyed the meat and in a flash it was gone. "Its too troublesome to cook~ Eating it like that still tastes pretty sweet though~"

The bear started gobbling the food just like that as the red head watched with an amused face. The others(Mainly Kagami and Aomine) yelled at the bear to teach not eat! By the time some of the words got through, Murasakibara had finished most of the ingredients and yawned before falling asleep at Akashi's lap. The red head gave a rather amused sigh, he did have a soft spot for the childish bear after all.

First teacher's attempt: Failed

Reason: Ingredients got eaten up. Teacher lost interest and forgot why he was there in the first place.

Second Teacher: Kuroko.

After successfully prying off the heavy bear, Kuroko stepped out. "Alright, we're making simple stir fried vegetables with meat today." The dragon said as he flashed his claws, it gleamed in the sunlight. "Okay, first you have to….." Kuroko slowly told what the red head had to do, the first being to slice the vegetables and meat, he had to marinate the meat before stir frying it.

"Its actually going pretty smoothly." Kagami commented. Midorima sighed "It seems so. I have my lucky item with me right now so that odd feeling must probably be a false alarm." the two felines looked at each other before at the Rabbit. "Ya think? I felt it too." that was when the odd feeling was back.

"Tetsuya do we have to wait till it has enough heat required?" the dragon nodded. "Adjusting heat is sometimes important, right now we need strong heat." the red head smirked. "I can fix that." there was a question mark floating above Kuroko's head. Akashi lifted his hand and only Midorima noticed what Akashi was planning to do. "Oi Kuroko stop him!" the three (Aomine, Kagami and Kuroko) was startled by the sudden outburst.

"Chant Abortion Pyro Sphere!" the whole area blew up. As the debris cleared. One can see slightly charred contracted beings(Although with Kuroko you can't tell.)while the red head who caused this managed to leap away in time.

Second Teacher's attempt: Failed

Reason: Student was impatient.

Third Teacher: Midorima.

"I was afraid of this….." He turned to see the red head with his casual smirk. He turned to the still charred group. "Any suggestions to prevent the same tragedy from happening again Nanodayo?" A synchronized negative movement. The rabbit immediately turned into his Kirin form and approached the still smirking red head. "I'm glad to see you are taking this seriously Shintaro."

A glare was sent to Akashi as Midorima arranged the ingredients. "Are you trying to purposely thwart our attempts in teaching." "What could you mean? I'm trying to learn and see if you are capable of teaching at the same time." The Kirin stared at his king "Alright, lets start but first put here is your lucky-"

"Lets begin then." "…You're not going to-" "No." They then did the same procedure as Kuroko but this time they were making soup, Midorima was taking precaution as Akashi placed the pot and was about to start a fire "I sincerely hope that you do not scorch the place on purpose again. Nanodayo." The kirin swore he heard a soft 'tch' and the red head muttering about 'short cuts' and 'having some sort of use for my scissors'.

Midorima left to get some more spices that he left after taking them out from his dimensional pocket leaving Akashi to ponder about the amount of required gasoline to start the fire. So in short he just dumped the half of the large tin box. Akashi stared at a cook book it had stated there 'if the fire is not big enough for your liking, fan the flames.' So when Midorima came back with the spices and put them in the soup the kirin threw a small match causing a huge fire to erupt all of a sudden.

"Wha-?! How much oil did you add Nanodayo?!" But Akashi wasn't paying attention as he stared at the fire. '_Hmm, not strong enough_.' The red had released some wind mana which began to circle the large flame causing it to turn into a huge vortex spiraling upwards. Midorima stared in shock.

Third Teacher's attempt: Failed.

Reason: Student misunderstood some information.

Fourth and Fifth Teacher: Aomine and Kagami.

Aomine was supposed to be next but he kept yelling that if he was going to die he'd drag Kagami with him. The two got into squabble until Midorima and Murasakibara charged at them and flung them in front of Akashi. The two paled as they tried to remember what information was in the rather thick book that they didn't finish. '_L-Lets see here…The words were big.'_ The two thought. '_But that's all I remember!'_ they inwardly panicked as Akashi tapped his foot repeatedly while waiting for them to start.

Thus in the state of blankness, they began to argue on what they _could_ remember as they pointed to the book in Kagami's paws. "As I said its supposed to be this way!" the tiger growled. "Alright then why don't you just have Akashi decide!" the panther roared back. The two tossed a recipe book at the red head who expertly caught it and flipped for a recipe that seemed interesting.

Kagami and Aomine gruffly sat down as Akashi took out a pot and began adding some….rather odd things. He opened his dimensional pocket and got what he needed. The contracted beings unfortunately in this situation had a keen sense of smell and could smell that horrid stench. "A-Akashi, just what are you adding?" "Oh, I read somewhere that animal organs are nutritious." Animal organs?! The group abruptly stood up and dashed to see what the inside of the pot looks like and immediately regretted it.

Inside was this purplish, blobbing liquid that seem to look as if it's a living being blended in who wanted out. The contraption reached out to touch the turned back of Akashi, Kagami wanted to defend since he noticed first but was a second late as Akashi kicked the pot and it landed in the remaining oil. The contraption seem to grow as it absorbed the oil.

"Aka-chin…" "Hmm how interesting." The group voiced their rejection for this very loudly "Its covered in oil, you just have to torch it." Sensing it was a dangerous idea with a capital 'D' Kuroko went to stop the red head who just casually launched it at the glob which exploded upon contact. Due to the support types natural instinct, barriers came out almost instantaneously. There was a huge hole opened up and the glob filled it up and covered the hole with its poison.

Thus the forming of the poison crater.

Though the villagers didn't mind as they could explore new poisons and counteract them so they would _not _have nothing to do.

Fourth and Fifth Teacher's attempt: Failed.

Reason: The teachers thought it would be the brightest idea ever to leave a student who seems to like huge fires when cooking to his own devices.

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**So how was it for this special~**

**I'm kinda stuck for next chapter~ Obstacles obstacles *tut tut***

**Anyway i'll have it up soon~**

**Please review~**


	17. Haizaki and the start of a new plan

**Hiyas~ Sorry for not posting in a few days. I was focusing on something.**

***Grumbling about tests* Well that's my problem.**

**EclipseKuran- Yup that was a filler because i had to organise my thoughts~ But the main story continues. Though i might still add another special now and then.**

**Ririnto- You're right about that. A crater wouldn't be the only thing if the 'triple threat' was there *Shudder* I don't want to know hat would happen if they _were_ there it'll be a ****catastrophe!**

**Alright~ On with the chapter~**

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The king of superior beings snarled loudly as he slammed a fist on the arm of his throne. How dare he?! Its been centuries and the barrier hasn't disappeared! During the execution, as a last resort Nijimura used his life force to create a barrier preventing him from escaping the castle grounds. "What on earth is Makoto doing?! Why hasn't he gotten what I need for the barrier to disappear?!" the servant closest to the king flinched.

"S-Sire p-please be patient. Hanamiya-sama is trying to do that and take the throne at the same time." the king turned towards the servant before he knew it, the man was dead. "You dare tell me what to do?! Me, Haizaki Shogo?!" A small team came to remove the corpse away and to clean the blood off. "Tch. That man is hard to trust, however should he claim the human throne then both realms are my domain….." he pondered about it before snarling. "The barrier comes first. Send a message! He better gather the mana and essences required or else!" The messanger bowed as he took off.

Back with the Teiko-Seirin team, they were in a pinch. It's the day after Kuroko explained who he is, the dragon still stood near the current human emperor along with Alex and Midorima. They had cleared the first two obstacles without problem but the last one put them in a tight spot. What is the pinch you ask? Kagami got really bored and wanted to participate in the next obstacle no matter what, but obstacles aren't just physical strength, this round is more about intelligence, which the tiger didn't take a hint as he watched the previous two rounds. So right now in front of the frustrated tiger was a few pieces of paper with questions about this world Fantasia.

"…..'Name the barrier that prevents the human land and superior beings land to clash and collide.' How am I supposed to know?!" and since this is not multiple choice questions the jade Kirin's 'rolly pencil' is not going to save the frustrated tiger. Koganei who was sent with Kagami tried to help but the tiger never noticed as a frustrated paw messed up his fur.

Back with the three chiefs Alex started sweat dropping. "Ouch…Taiga has never been good with stuff like this. At this rate the Teiko-Seirin alliance would only score at most five points and that's thanks to cat mouth boy there." Kuroko couldn't help but let a amused smile on his face "I remember that he took a test and flunked really badly that you asked me to fly over and save him." Midorima just snorted. "He's left with ten minutes what can he do? From what I've seen he hasn't answered any questions yet Nanodayo." "There's probably one method left." a whistle blew out an a familiar red head stepped forward.

"That Bakagami…!" Riko said as she crushed a rock into pieces followed by putting Aomine into a choke hold. "Ack! Let…go!" "Why didn't you teach your cousin properly?!" "I hate to admit this but I'm worse then he is!" the group then paused as Riko tightened her choke hold. "Is eat, sleep and fighting all that goes in your head?!" Aomine fainted as he ran out of oxygen. Akashi pinched the bridge of his nose as he stepped out and told the judge, a whistle was heard.

"Aka-chin is going out?" Murasakibara asked as he paused from eating. "If Akashi-chi doesn't we'd fail pretty badly." "Why did we let Tai-chan go out in the first place?" Momoi asked "We didn't. Bakagami dashed out on his own before hearing what the referee said." Riko elaborated as she sat down, releasing the unconscious panther.

Kagami started sweating profusely when he saw Akashi who look like he wanted to strangle the tiger. "Taiga. I'm telling Alex to increase her lecture later." Kagami paled "Right now lets focus on _not_ failing. Start writing, we have ten minutes for five questions." with Akashi explaining Kagami managed to fill out three questions before time ran out. The red head twirled a pair of scissors as he led Koganei and Kagami back.

"Teiko-Seirin, 8 points! Kirisaki-daichi-yosen, 10 points! Kaijo-shuutoku, 9 points! Rakuzan-Touou, 10 points! End of this round!"

Scores:

Teiko- 68 points.

Seirin- 67 points.

Rakuzan- 55 points.

Touou- 54 points.

Kaijo- 53 points.

Shuutoku- 55 points.

Kirisaki Daichi- 54 points.

Yosen- 50 points.

The group immediately scattered with Akashi gripping onto the scruff of Kagami's neck to prevent him from running, much to the tiger's dismay. They returned to the lodge to find the three chiefs already waiting for them. "Great you're here! Yesterday I didn't managed to get any scolding done, so prepare yourselves!" the blonde striped tiger said smiling as she cracked her paws. Kagami couldn't run but Aomine tried to dash out, Alex turned to Kuroko.

The dragon noticed that look and slinked into the shadows as his azure claws wrapped around the panther's waist and lifted the beast up. "Tetsu you bastard let me go!" "I apologise but Alex-san asked me to do this to repay a favour from sometime ago." "You-" the panther didn't get to complete his sentence as Kuroko threw him towards Alex who caught the panther as if he was weightless. "Celestial White tiger! Grant me the power of dimensions! Dimensional sphere!" Alex yelled as a round portal appeared on the floor, the blond striped tiger threw Aomine into it and gestured Akashi to do the same for Kagami.

Midorima just snorted in amusement which didn't last long as Murasakibara pushed him in as well. "Wha-?!" "Sorry bout the Mido-chin but Aka-chin told me to do that." "I haven't forgotten about what you called me Shintaro." The red head smirked. "Ryouta, Satsuki and Atsushi. Along with the rest of Seirin team, enjoy yourselves as we sort this out." Akashi passed a piece of paper to the fox. "Tetsu-chan, please stabilize the dimensional sphere will ya?" Kuroko nodded in agreement as he sat down in his azure form and placed his hands together.

"I'll explain why later little Akashi just follow." the red head followed Alex as she jumped into the portal. When they were gone, Kise opened the piece of paper and groaned as he found out it was a training schedule. "That's mean Akashi-chi!" Riko looked at the paper, impressed. "Yosh! We'll follow this schedule as well! Seirin line up!" Now it was time for Seirin's protest as they dragged themselves as well as Murasakibara, Kise and Momoi.

Inside the small dimension was a blue sky and odd land that looks perfect for agriculture and a couple of thick looking trees. "We'll start by the physical labor you missed out on! With Tetsu-chan above, the plants will grow faster so I want you to harvest all of these." Alex pointed to a few large sacks of seeds "And I want you to chop down those trees for firewood, they're getting thicker so you better work fast." "Shintaro, you will help out." Dispute the fact that Midorima is still in his chief form his still listened because the odds aren't in his favour. Besides, Akashi is scary when pissed.

"Now then," Alex said as she sat on one of the chairs there and drank some tea. "Its time we have a chat." Akashi followed suit. "Why did you have Tetsuya 'stabilize' this dimension, is it not straining?" "First of, Tetsu-chan specializes in this. Our clans Kirin, white tiger, phoenix, Azure dragon and Black tortoise are known as 'guardians' as our ancestors are the ones who made the barrier separating the two lands. So of course we specialize in this aspect but each is different. I specialize in dimensions the thick skeleton while Tetsu-chan can stabilize it as well as adding barriers to it."

"And the others?" "While Tetsu-chan makes barriers and stabilizes it, the black tortoise strengthens it and the phoenix ensures that it continuously regenerates, making it ever lasting. Kirin mold and combines it so that it would not fall apart." The red head nodded and filed this information away. "So we can't go crazy and battle here or else it'll fall apart." Alex nodded. "Alright. What of the other 'guardians'?" "I've been told that the Phoenix has not chosen another leader yet while the black tortoise is the one taking care of the areas as we're all not there."

"Is that so? Now then, what do you want with me?" the tiger visibly flinched "What do you mean?" Akashi smirked "Don't you find it odd that three chiefs also known as guardians, two of which so happens to contract with me and another who came to see little old me?" "Don't jump to conclusions. I came to see Taiga and Daiki."

"Oh? Then why did you answer my questions? Some of which I can tell is meant not to be spilled." Alex didn't answer. Akashi shot a spell towards the quiet tigress who leaped away. "You yourself said that we can't fight here as the dimension isn't that strong." "Then you better answer my questions faster or we'll be trapped in a rift in dimensions."

* * *

Hanamiya gritted his teeth as he nearly killed the messenger. Oh course he knew he had to hurry! His team isn't getting any further either even when he poisoned the other competitors they still somehow recovered. Its because of that damn dragon! All he needed is just one of that azure scales and it would be complete. He had already collected the Kirin's scale and tiger's claw, he just needed that one object! Hanamiya smirked as he sensed another presence in this dark room.

"Mayuzumi, we need that scale. Could you go get it? I'm sure meeting with him would be beneficial to you as well." The presence hidden in the shadows disappeared as Hanamiya cackled. Poisoning didn't work? Then he'll try even more drastic measures. But first, the ingredients for the barrier. The foolish king didn't even know that his moves is predicted and manipulated by him! He'll soon obtained leadership for both lands. Like hell he'll serve under someone!

* * *

Kuroko concentrated on the dimension and felt quarrelling in there. The dragon sighed. What happened to civilized discussion? Nigou beside him suddenly snarled and growled behind him, Kuroko opened his eyes and leaped back and twisted around. His eyes widened. "Mayuzumi, what are you doing here?" the other dragon with lighter shade of dark smirked. "Surprised, dear grand chief?" "You should have been exiled by the previous chief for attempting to take his life, I'll ask again, what are you doing here?"

Mayuzumi's eyes darkened "If only I succeeded. I would have gotten the position of chief if I absorbed his blood, only if you didn't interfere!" Kuroko shook his head. "Whoever told you that is fooling you. Absorbing his blood wouldn't have transferred his form to you, believe me. You aren't the first to do this and failed. The only thing that would have come of this is that you won't have a peaceful death, I tried to prevent that."

"You lie! I trusted you and you wind up taking that form for yourself!" "I never wanted this. I lost more then I gain." Mayuzumi just shook his head as he charged in, Nigou intercepted and push him away. "Get lost mutt!" Mayuzumi yelled as he swatted the wolf away and casted shadows to bind the beast in place. The enraged dragon charged at Kuroko and extended his claws Kuroko lifted his claw and immediately a pale blue barrier 'Aqua dome' formed, Mayuzumi gritted his teeth and dark mana with a red mixed into it pierced through and sliced off a single scale much to the Kuroko's surprise.

Mayuzumi grinned as he lifted the piece. "I got what I came for. Haizaki would soon come free." Kuroko stared his eyes looked furious at the mention of the man's name. He dashed forward as Mayuzumi tried to slink back into the shadows and used his claw to kick him to a nearby wall. The pale eyed dragon coughed out blood, Kuroko looked at him coldly before staring at the scale he's gripping and realization dawns on him.

"Don't tell me…the final item was my scale….?" Mayuzumi grinned victoriously and used the moment of shock to disappear. Kuroko wanted to go after him until he sensed that in his rage, he stopped stabilizing the sphere and went to do so, he would discuss with the other two about this later.

Akashi panted as he drove Alex to a tree and pinned her there even though she used her chief form. The blue striped tiger glared at the red head with icy colored eyes, her messed up pure white fur covering her paws and neck completely pinned because of Akashi's high level spell 'Eternal binding' which was a combined spell of light, earth and nature mana. He managed this because all of a sudden, the dimension started falling apart which distracted her enough to be pinned, the sphere seemed to have returned to normal now though.

Midorima, Aomine and Kagami watched as the chief was bested and stopped work at 99% completion. "You're good. But I cannot say, it is not my place to do so." "Then whose?" Akashi asked as he amber eye glowed. Alex gulped as she answered. "The ancients." the red head growled as he released the tiger and ordered the trio to finish up. Alex rubbed her neck and waist where she was wrapped with binds. '_Tetsu-chan he's strong…Far beyond what we expect. What a beast!_' She swore that she saw a odd figure of a beast looming above the red head as he attacked which easily intimidated her.

Mayuzumi dragged himself to Hanamiya and handed him the scale. The man smirked as picked it up. Finally they can start with different plans.

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**Oh~ Now what do i have in mind?**

**Hmm~ You'll know later. In fact my head is in a mess trying to organize what comes next.**

**Anyways~ Please review~**


	18. The beast and Assassination?

**Umm hey there. *A pair of scissors and spells launched at me***

**Squeak! How did spells get launched at me?!****  
**

**A-Anyway, sorry for late update. I do not have an excuse its just that it came out late. So i apologise~**

**Ramaxy18-chan -I'm glad that you like this fic and find it interesting~ I'm close to organizing the mess so updates might be more frequent as i find inspiration.**

**EclipseKuran- Hehe maybe i'll keep you suspense for awhile longer. Kukuku...*A pair of oversized scissors with mana embedded in it flies towards me* Eeep! Got it Aka-chan you want to move on so that's a no-no T.T**

**Anyways~ On with the chapter~**

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Akashi's Pov.

Again. Here I am in this odd place where darkness surrounds me. I walk towards the place where I last saw the beast and was surprised to find him slightly sulking while tugging his chains. Though that immediately went away when he saw me and gave a toothy grin.

"_Hey there been awhile. How's life?"_

I snorted. "Of all the questions, really now? How about _you_ humor me about why you were sulking?"

"_Aww you saw that? Its just that the chains are so close to coming off but they hang on persistently that's all."_

"Is that so? Anyway I've been meaning to ask, how do you know that Kuroko and Midorima are chiefs and not what they seem?" I flinch in surprise. Kuroko? Midorima? Since when do I address them as such? The beast's toothy grin grew into a wide smirk as he points to my amber eye and uses his claw to grip his closed one.

"_I've been seeing it through _you _all this time. A short quiz, has your eyes always been like that? Have you always addressed people by their first names?"_

I tried to recall, actually when has it been? That's odd, something seems to be blocking me, obstructing me from recalling because when I last checked I had a really excellent memory. The beasts gave short laugh as he stares at me.

"_Can't recall? I won't blame you, something is holding _us_ back after all. Actually you got a bit of _my _prideful personality. As for your eye, hmm, its actually mine overlapping yours."_

I wanted to ask- wait ask? I demand! What is going on here?! I couldn't get further as loud screams pierced through the black space and made everything quiver.

"_Never a dull day in your life huh? Something seems to be interesting out there. Oh and come here for a second will you?"_

I did as the beast told me to, he couldn't harm me and I could fight back anyway. He gently pressed a paw on my head and the my cloudy mind cleared a bit making me feel quite refreshed. "What did you do?"

"_Oh you'll find out later~ Time to wake up sleepyhead. Actually I quite like sleeping too. Hmm~"_

End of Pov~

Horns blared, shouting was heard, yelling and screaming followed by panic was what awoke the red head. It was the break of dawn, the rounds shouldn't have started yet, so why all the commotion? Kuroko lifted his head and uncurled himself before extending a claw and helping the red head up of his bed. Akashi gave a short pat on Nigou before leaving his room to see that the rest of the group had woken up because of the noise as well.

"Yawn~ What's with all the noise Aka-chin?" the sleepy Murasakibara asked as his paw rubbed his face. "I'm awake because of that. What seems to be the situation?" The rest shook their heads, they themselves have no clue. Until Riko slammed open the door drawing attention to her, she was followed by a panting Seirin group. "The Emperor is dead! The place is in a chaos!" The group looked at each other in shock, why so sudden?

"The cause?" Akashi asked stepping forward. "That…..we're not so sure ourselves. We just heard horns blaring and guards exclaiming in panic." The red head turned to the now awake group. "Alright, it would be best if we find out what's wrong. But they probably won't just let anyone in."

"You guys are 'kings/queens' don't you have authority for that?" Aomine stated "No they probably want to keep what happened without touching much to investigate. Which is why Tetsuya and Shintaro is to gain entry for us." the two nodded as they shifted into their chief form and led the two teams to the front of the castle. "Halt! There is an emergency inside and we can't let anyone in!" the guards yelled at the crowd.

The two chiefs stepped forward and the people moved away for them. Midorima had a quick chat with the guards who saluted and let them through. "Also the teams there will be following us." Kuroko added, the guard knew better to protest and let the large group in. The dragon and Kirin led the two teams through the hallway to see Alex standing outside a door looking rather worried. "Oh Tetsu-chan, Shin-kun you're here." "The emperor?" the Kirin asked to which the tigress shook her head. "I….See. Nanodayo."

"Has anyone else entered the chambers?" Akashi asked. Alex shook her head. "No, I didn't permit anyone in until Tetsu-chan could examine and give proper information on why this happened." "Its better that way. No one will be able to tamper with the information Nanodayo."

The tigress used a paw to push open the doors to see a pale emperor lying on a bed, no longer breathing. Kuroko, Akashi, Riko and Midorima went closer while some stayed in the room and the others guarded the outside. "Pardon me." the dragon whispered as he used his azure claw to remove the blanket and scanned the emperor up and down. Before using a needle to draw blood, the usually red liquid looked maroon as Kuroko transferred it into a tube and lifted it for Akashi, Riko and Midorima to see.

"This looks like a type of poison that spreads slowly." Riko stated, a hand on her chin. "Must be undetectable if the emperor didn't feel much Nanodayo." "But that shouldn't be possible as this should've taken days to spread and the emperor looked fine yesterday." Akashi added. "Not entirely true. There is a herb which speeds up this process to just hours." Kuroko elaborated as he placed a cork on a tube before setting it on a table.

"So he died sometime yesterday?" Kise asked trying to process what the group said. "Or possibly earlier." Momoi added on. "We can't do anything bout that then." Aomine said as he yawned. "What about the succession then? Do we continue with the tournament?" Kagami asked. Murasakibara poked through cabinets hoping for something nice to eat until he found something odd smelling. "Neh Aka-chin~" the red head turned to look at the bear who was walking towards him with something gently clamped between his fangs. The purple bear placed the envelope in Akashi's hand and went back to poking through drawers.

Akashi raised an eyebrow before opening the letter and scanning through the contents. The group except for a few hurdled around him and scanned through it before some fumed in anger. "What crap is this?!" Aomine roared. The piece of paper had what looked like a will on it.

_Will._

_Should something unfortunate happens to me before the finish of the tournament, I have decided on crowning a new leader right away._

_The people mustn't be left without a ruler or panic will occur, as such with proper judgment of the contestants in the tournament I have decided on naming the leader of the 'Kirisaki Daichi' team to be the new emperor._

_Please, I ask that my final wish be granted as I see a new possibility under that man's leadership._

_End._

A few wanted to gag. What 'possibility'? All they've seen is dirty tricks so far from that team. The future would be oh-so bright with that man around. "Alex, are you sure that no one has entered this chamber?" The tigress nodded. Akashi then took a quick glance on the handwriting, it looks similar but he could tell that that was _not_ the emperor's writing. The red head snorted before announcing "It's a forgery, a fake. There is no such thing as will that the emperor wrote. Even if there is, its probably long gone now."

"So what are we going to do Akashi-chi?" Kise asked. Akashi pondered what should he do? Getting rid of this should be the first but the people will still panic. A snort was heard in the back of his mind.

"_Allow me."_ 'What-?'

The beast inside waves his claw(hand) before saying. "Do you have a copy of the emperor's handwriting?" There were a few gasps while some just rubbed their eyes before sighing. Akashi found this behavior odd. However that is because he couldn't see the amber tint in _both_ eyes. "Sure. Here ya go." Aomine said before handing a scroll parchment about the notice of postponement due to the cooking 'incident'.

The beast grunted in thanks before covering his hand in mana and started writing something on a new parchment and brought it to the emperor's hand and started lifting and putting it on the parchment before re-sealing it in the purple envelope. "Umm Akashi-chi what did you do?" Kise asked warily, who knows what his sadistic demon lord king had written in there.

The beast snorted in amusement before saying. "If the other wants to play forgery so be it. I could do the same, I just wrote that the tournament continues as per normal and covered my hand in mana so that no fingerprints would be left behind, I used the emperor's hand to made it so that_ he_ was the one who wrote that, not me." Aomine whistled. "Nice. Where d'ya learn that?" "Self-study." Riko sweat dropped. "Are we supposed to do that Akashi-kun?"

"No we are not. But this is the quickest and most efficient method currently available." The beast said before chucking the forged letter in Kuroko's hands and telling him to dispose of it. The three chiefs were quiet as they glanced at 'Akashi' "Understood." Kuroko replied. The beast grunted before retreating back into the mental sphere.

"_Ah that was exhausting. My mana only reaches so far. Right now going out for five minutes is the max. How irritating." _Akashi inwardly chuckled. "Well that was interesting to say the least. Anything else you could do that I can't?"

"_We both has skills the other can't have. For example, I may have skills to forge handwriting at a glance but you have knowledge of several information that I don't. Call me if you need anything, this mental sphere is getting very boring."_

"chin, Aka-chin!" Akashi blinked as several concerned glances were staring at him. "Pardon. What were you saying?" Riko stepped forward "We were saying that we should pass the *Ahem* will to the temporary in charge." "Can we trust him?" kagami asked while stopping Murasakibara from chomping the slik material clothes. "He is. Talked to him quite a few times already, a good man." With their course of action decided, the group filed out before informing the temporary in charge about the poison and handing the will. They each returned to their lodges as its still too early for this matter and they were all sleep deprived.

The Three chiefs had a separate discussion though. "That was most definitely not Sei-kun." "Its settled then, the blood has been awakened." Midorima said as he shook his mane. "I'll send Nigou to chief of black tortoise to inform him then." Kuroko offered. "Good idea, we'll just continue to observe then." Alex said before the trio dispersed.

Two days later, the notice went out that the king has fallen due to poison and that according to his will, the tournament would still go on since the deceased emperor did not have any favorites as it was 'too early to tell'. The kingdoms matters would be handled by the temporary in charge which managed to calm the people down. The beast smirked in victory which Akashi couldn't manage to hide and the rest shivered.

"_How scary!"_

* * *

Hanamiya however was not pleased. He threw his wine glass at a wall and rampaged about. His plan should have been perfect! The 'will' had been placed in a very easy to spot cabinet! It should have gone out that _he_ should have been emperor and not to continue this foolhardy tournament! So how?! His eyes widened in realization. Those pesky chief and their teams! Damn them for getting in the way! It would have been a hell lot easier if they were not around. Taking a deep breath, he calmed himself. No good to completely demolish his plans in his rage he thought, this was just a mere minor set back. The man gave a smirk before sending a messenger out for a little more 'back-up'.

Omake~

"Hey have you seen the shopping list?" Hara asked. "Shouldn't it be in the kitchen?" Yamazaki said. Hara's bubblegum popped as he shook his head. "Nope, just a will. Did someone die?" Yamazaki had a confused look "I pretty sure that nobody did." Hara just shrugged as he tore the will and made a new list.

Akashi had never been without answers before, it was really rarely if he does. This is one of the rare times. He opened the envelope to find a list. "A few cartons of milk and several pounds of meat?" Aomine, Kise, Kagami and Alex burst out laughing while Kuroko hid a small smile behind his claw, Midorima just snorted in amusement. The Seirin team looked puzzled until they found out why, the group laughed their hearts out as well.

"Is this some kind of joke?" Akashi asked to no one in particular.

* * *

**Well i just needed to get something out there. Sorry if its short though~**

**Well the tournament is going to continue but the plot thickens i guess~**

**Anyway please excuse me as i dash away from Teiko team who wants me to get on with it which will take awhile.**

***Odd cooking, spells and fire balls are launched at me***

**Eeep! P-Please Review~**

**Authoress Flame-y has ran away.**


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